Child's Play
by SuperSonicSpeed
Summary: Eggman has turned Sonic into a baby as phase 1 of his plan and leaves him to fend for himself. After being found, he is left in the care of the LAST person he had in mind, Shadow. Can Shadow be a good father to the "Mini Faker"? And what is Eggman truly planning?
1. Beginnings

**Sonic: Well, look who finally decided to write a story!**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Oh get off my back… **

**Sonic: Hey Shads! Take a look! She's finally writing a story! Get a Camera!**

**Shadow: Great… Now we're gonna be stuck making the disclaimers. Aren't we?**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Hehehe… *blush* please?**

**Shadow: You know, most of the people we disclaimer for aren't normally so easy to make blush. *smirks***

**SuperSonicSpeed: Will you just disclaimer before my head turns into a tomato PLEASE!**

**Sonic and Shadow: Too late! *chuckles* ANYWAYS! She owns NOTHING involving US or any other character from Sega or any mentioned on this story. She merely likes to write stories about us. **

**SuperSonicSpeed: Just to back it up, I. OWN. NONE. OF. THE. CHARACTERS! (or simply put, I own nothing!) SO ENJOY and review! Sonic… put away the camera. *bright flash* great… **

'**Thought'**

"**Speak"**

**Beginnings**

"Missed me again Egghead!"

Sonic grinned and took down the next robot that came towards him. Spin dashes, Sonic Booms, robot pieces everywhere, and trademark smirks. The battle had just started and half of Eggman's fleet was already destroyed.

"You little rodent!," Eggman yelled frustrated.

Sonic only smirked, "Aww, what's wrong? Don't tell me all the hits to your head have finally dropped you I.Q. level."

Eggman merely snorted, "Well, then. How about trying on an experimental egg missile for size?" With that, he pushed a button revealing a small hand sized non threatening looking missile.

"Is that it!? I trashed things way bigger than THAT before! I think you finally _have_ lost it" Sonic laughed but waited for the missile to be fired.

"FIRE! What th-"

The missile flew straight to the sky and seemed to not have any plans of coming down.

"You sorta missed Eggy!" Sonic was torn between laughing hysterically and keeping a dumbfounded face by the fact that Eggmans missile had taken a trip to outer space instead of chasing him.

"Blast it all!" Eggman began to escape as Sonic began to destroy the last of the robots.

'That was easy. Too easy even for Eggman. I'm sure he has something else up his sleeve.' Sonic was in deep thought and just couldn't figure out how Eggman could make such a miscalculation. Even Tails couldn't make such a drastic miss.

"Whatever. The important thing is that I took down his fleet without even trying. Plus! I just set a new record for myself." He smirked jumping over one of the fallen trees in the forest.

A slight twitch in his ear and he heard something… humming? He looked at every direction as the sound kept getting louder and louder.

BAM! He barely managed to dodge the malfunctioned missile. But to his surprise, the missile didn't even explode at impact.

"That's weird… maybe if I bring it to Tails, he'll know what's inside."

As he walked over slowly, he began to inspect the missile. 'Looks normal.' The blue hero began to reach for the missile and was surprised when it disintegrated under a slight touch. 'Wha?'

The next thing Sonic knew, he was engulfed by gleaming green smoke.

Cough, Cough!

"What is this!?" the azure hero exclaimed, little did he notice that a shadow was behind the trees as he collapsed.

"Looks like things are going according to plan. Maybe this time you won't crack jokes about my I.Q. Hedgehog! Hohohohoho!"

The green smoke began to diminish and revealed a sleeping baby blue hedgehog.

Eggman took his shoes and gloves, "You won't be needing these. But I'll be sure to give them back when the time is right." He had a smug look on his face as he took out a small chip. "This won't hurt much," he spoke to the unconscious hedgehog, "But it will serve its purpose in the future."

The chip began to go under the skin of his neck and crawl to the scalp. A whimper escaped and then the cries as the chip drilled through the skull and into the center of the brain. Light blue streaks appeared on his quills and his emerald green eyes had tints of red.

"See you later Hedgehog! HOHOHO! Hm?"

"Sonic! Where are you! I knew I should've flown the Tornado and… where's that crying coming from?"

"Looks like your little brother is here, not that he'll recognize you." Eggman smirked and began to leave with Sonic's things. Sonic's crying intensified as he lay alone.

"A baby!?" Tails ran and scooped up the baby hedgehog trying to console him. "Hm… there's no one around. I guess I can take you to my workshop until we find who you belong to."

The baby quieted and began to fall asleep, 'Tails?'

**Well, that's what I have for now. Let me know what you think! And also, special thanks to Swan7 for giving me some ideas! THANK YOU VERY MUCH! I hope you all enjoyed!**


	2. What?

**SuperSonicSpeed: *about to speak***

**Shadow: She doesn't own us.**

**Sonic: So sit back and enjoy the story! :)**

**SuperSonicSpeed: ... What they said!**

**"Speak****"**

**'Thought'**

"We better get out of the forest before night fall." Tails mumbled to the blue baby. 'Still... I hope Sonic's alright. He said he would come right back after destroying Eggmans new fleet. Maybe he chased after him?' Tails continued walking, carrying the snoozing baby, and hit something with his shoe. Tails looked down to see a large metal arm, or at least, what ressembled a metal arm. 'The battle field must be nearby. I really should go but, I just really need to see something.' He looked at the baby again as if waiting for it to open it's eyes and begin to protest. But he merely continued his slumber.

He reached an opening of the forest and was welcomed by hundreds of broken pieces of scrap metal. 'Man! He ripped through everything!' something caught his eye, 'Except that.' Tails stared at the large piece of metal that lay in the center of the battle field. It had the small dent on the top roght corner and something stuck in it. Tails eyes widened, 'It's one of Sonic's blue quills! He must've hit the thing so hard that one of them must have lodged itself into the metal. Just how strong is this metal?'

He saw a smaller piece of the metal that seemed to be the same consistency. It was no larger than the size of his palm. Picking it up, he decided it was definately time to go. There was no other sign of the blue hero being there and risking running into a feral animal in the forest was NOT an option. Especially with a baby on one arm and pice of unknown metal on the other.

Racing through the forest as fast as he could, he managed to get out of the forest minutes before the light was completly engulfed by the moonlight and darkness. 'I sure hope Sonic made it out before dark...' With that thought, he made his way home. 'Maybe he's already home.'

As Tails approached the house, he saw no lights, 'No one home. Hm... Maybe I should call the others to see if anyone's seen him.' He gently opened the door and made his way inside. He held the baby hedgehog close, and after reaching the couch, began inspecting the baby's features. It looked like Sonic but, not exactly.

"Funny" Tails chuckled, "You have sonics color, but those light blue streaks are, surreal. It's almost as if they'd start glowing at any second. I wonder what your eyes look like?"

The phone began to ring and Tails automatically looked at the baby. 'Boy... you sleep like a log...' Carefully placing the hedgehog on the couch, he answered the phone.

"Hello?" 'Maybe it's Sonic.'

_"Hey Tails! It's Knuckles! How are yah?"_

'Nope' "Hey! I'm fine. Actually, I wanted to ask you something."

_"Do you need me to stop spike for brains from..."_ Tails interupted

"No, I think he learned his lesson on that. I just wanted to know if you've seen him."

_"... Last I saw him was when you saw him. But don't worry! He probably went out for a run..."_ Again he was interupted, but not by Tails. It almost sounded like an infant.

_"Tails?! Do you have a kid?!"_

"Um! Can you come over?"

_"...Sure..."_

Tails hung up and proceeded to check on the baby. To his shock, his eyes almost resembled Sonics emeralds, but that tinge of red seemed to say something else. "Hey there, I'm Tails!"

The baby stared, "Goo baba gah" 'What the? What did I just say?!'

"Awww! You're already trying to talk."

"Baba Goo!" 'It's me! Sonic! Don't you recognize me!? You're best bud! Worlds coolest hero! Wait a minute? Why is everything so big? Why are my hands this small!? NO... way... Am I a...!?'

"Are you hungry? You sound a bit..." _Ding Dong_ "Hold that thought. I bet it's Knuckles."

'Maybe Knuckles will recognize me.' Sonic thought hopefully.

"Oh Sonic!" Yelled a very... familiar high pitched voice.

'Oh... no...' The baby began trying to crawl away as he saw a pink blur heading towards him.

"Oh my! Tails, whose this little bundle? Where's Sonic?!" Amy asked picking up a very desperate baby.

Sonic's eyes went as wide as dinner plates, 'IT'S NOT ME! IM NOT SONIC! NOT SONIC!' The baby screamed in his mind.

"I'm not sure. I found him in the forest all alone. As for Sonic, I have no idea..." Tails sighed.

"AWWWW" Amy whined, "I wanted to say goodbye before I went on my trip with Cream and Vanilla..."

"I'm sure he'll be back soon." Tails said optimiscally.

'Sooner than you think. In fact I'm RIGHT INFRONT OF YOU! Oh please don't let Amy recognize me...' Sonic couldn't stay still in Amy's arms.

"I hope so. I wanted to bring him with me to the cruise!" Amy chirped happily.

'OH GOD!' The baby almost passed out.

"I'm sure he'll enjoy _that_ Amy." Tails sweat dropped knowing that on a cruise, Sonic really had no where to run from Amy.

'I hope Knuckles gets here soon.' Tails began to stare out the window.

_30 Minutes Later_

"Oh..." Knuckles stared at the baby in Amy's arms after hearing Tails tale. His purple eyes staring at the baby's emeralds. But that red tinge, it almost looked... hypnotic? No. Suspicious? Maybe.

"I don't know what to do!?" Tails Proclaimed as he looked at the clock, "It's already 1am..."

"Don't worry! I'm sure Sonics fine!" Knuckles looked at Amy and the baby once more, "for all we know he's hiding from Amy." Knuckles whispered, causing the two tailed fox to chuckle.

"Well, I got to go. Tell Sonic that I am DEFINATELY going to find him! Sooner or later!" Amy gave Tails the baby and smiled, "And be sure to find this baby a nice place. So long!" With that, she ran off giggling. "Oh! One more thing, if that's Sonics baby..." She left the sentence hanging as her hammer poofed out. "See yah!"

Knuckles, Tails, and baby Sonic stared wide eyed as Amy left.

'Why me?! Why!?' Sonic blushed slightly.

"You should probably check his temperature. He looks pretty red." knuckles advised.

"Hey Knuckles. Where do you think would be a good home for this baby?" Tails asked innocently as he looked at the baby. Sonic was already beggining to drift to sleep.

"Thats easy!" Knuckles laughed, "Which other hedgehog is there besides Sonic and Amy?"

Sonic eyes darted open, 'You Knuckle head! You better not say who I'm thinking of!'

"You mean?" Tails sounded nervous.

"YEP! Our one and only Shadow the Hedgehog" Knucles announced proudly.

"Are you sure?"

"Why not? Even though he's an artificial hedgehog, he should know more than us about hedgehogs. Right?"

"But..." Knuckles interupted.

"I know exactly how to deliver this bundle of joy!"

'Maybe Shadow's actually nice and he just acts, oh who am I kidding. I'm dead. That's it. I, Sonic the Hedgehog, have lived a somewhat long life full of adventure and fun.' Sonic pouted as he saw Knuckles preparing his plan.

**Sonic: x.x**

**Shadow: O.o**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Thanks for reading! I apologize if this chapter seemed a bit slow but I promise it will get better! Also, Thanks again to Swan7 for the NOT SONIC idea! Highly apprecciate it your help. Review please! The more I know of what you all think, the more I know how to improve!**


	3. Mission Impossible? HA!

**SuperSonicSpeed: I OWN NOTHING!**

**Shadow: I thought that the disclaimers were our responsibility?**

**SuperSonicSpeed: uuuummm, i wanted to give you a break?**

**Shadow: Something funny's going on. *suspicious glare***

**SupeSonicSpeed: 'You have no idea...'**

**Sonic: On to the story!**

"Are you sure about this Knuckles?" asked a very concerned two tailed fox as they approached their destination.

"Positive. This plan is full proof! We just need to stay silent. Shadow has the ears of a rabbit with ears bigger than its head."

"That doesn't make any sense..."

Knuckles face palmed, "Alright, you seen the movie Dumbo (Don't own the movie!)?"

"Yeah, those elephant ears were huge!"

"SHH! Do you want elephant ears to hear us?"

"Sorry... But was the basket really necessarry?"

"Ofcourse! I always see this in the movies." Tails face palmed as Knuckles saw Shadow's house just a few meters away, "Alright, absolutely no sound. Good thing that kit is asleep or else we may not be able to pull this off."

The blue hedgie sofly breathed, unaware of its surroundings. The basket he was in was a was just the right size for him, and the baby blue blanket matched his light blue streaks. A small pillow was right under him and he snuggled close to the small teddy bear as if he were looking for comfort. Tails began wondering if this small kit would actually be able to make Shadow show another side of himself. Then again, they might end of playing catch with the basket. He let out a shiver of the image. He can see it now, Shadow throwing the basket to the forest without even seeing what was inside. 'I really hope that doesn't happen...'

Knuckles knodded at Tails, meaning that Shadow was indeed home. He swallowed the lump in his throat, "Here it goes..." He began to whirl his tails slowly and flew to the front porch. Knuckles tip toed over and placed a note on the basket as Tails gently placed the basket on the front door step. 'Now to just ring the doorbell and...'

"What are you doing?" asked a deep voice. Only, instead of the voice coming from infront, it came from behind, "and what's this about elephant ears? Hm?"

"Oh! Uh! Hi Shadow!" Tails said quickly as he and Knuckles tried to hide the basket behind them, "We were just, um..."

"Here to say hi! and as for the ears, we were talking about a movie!" Knuckles interupted quickly. 'He could hear us from that far!?'.

"Really?" Shadow sounded unamused, "What is this really about?"

Tails was about to say something but Knuckles beat him to the punch, "Ok, we admit it! We came for your chaos emerald because we were doing research on... uh"

Tails interupted this time, "On how the chaos emerald reacts to DNA when transforming into super versions of yourselves."

"... Forget it, now step aside." 'Where is that Faker anyways. I thought he would've been here with his fan club.' He took a step foward but still, the fox and echidna didn't move. That's when he noticed a small basket behind them. "What's that?" he asked suspiciously.

"What's what?" asked Knuckles, pretending to be dumbfounded.

"Don't play with me Echidna." Shadow glared. That's when he heard a small yawn. 'What?'

'Oh no! The baby woke up!' Tails began to sweat a bit as he imagined the previous scene over and over again.

'Not now!' Knuckles sweat dropped.

Shadow took a step closer and saw a small blue hand coming out of the basket. 'A baby?' That's when he stood right infront of the basket ignoring Tails and Knuckles sudden intake of air. 'A baby hedgehog? It looks like that Faker! But it has streaks like me and his eyes have a tinge of red.' He examined the basket, 'Hmm... Baby in a basket and a note on top means one thing.'

"Don't look now, but I think your mini Faker is having a heart attack." Tails saw the baby kit panicking and Shadow continued, "And my reply is NO. I won't be taking in this baby." With that, the ultimate lifeform entered his house and slammed the door.

'Wow, I thought that at least Mr. Ultamite Life form would recognize me' thought the baby. 'But at least i won't be trapped in there. Back to the house Tails!'

"I've got another plan" Whispered Knuckles as he took out a small parachute and tied it to the basket. He also wrote another note and replaced it with the other. "Say hi to Shadow for me kid." He got into a tossing position.

'WHAT!? KNUCKLES NO! And you already said hi!' Sonic squealed.

"Knuckles that's too dangerous!" Tails exclaimed

'Thank you Tails!' Sonic gratefully thought.

"No it's not! He's even squealing with joy."

"Where are you even trying to..." Tails then noticed the chimney, It seemed to not be in use. "Alright then"

'What!? Tails!' Sonic felt the basket slowly ascend, 'I hate you both...'

Then with a slight grunt, Knuckles tossed the basket into the chimney.

"Let's go Tails!" Knuckles quickly said and grabbed Tails's wrist to start running.

_**Inside Shadows House**_

Shadow was heading upstairs to turn in when he heard a sudden thud. 'They didn't...' He rushed down stairs and started looking for the place the sound came from. 'Nothing in the kitchen which means...' He sped to the living room where he was met by a hedgie in a basket. He picked the basket up and took the note.

_Dear Shadow, _

_ Thank you for deciding to take him in after all! Hope you enjoy the present! Oh! He doesn't have a name yet, so feel free to name him anything you wish. I bet you're thinking Faker #2. Have Fun! _

_ Sincerely, _

_ Knuckles _

_ PS: It's not Sonic's kid. Tails did a DNA test to make sure._

Shadow was ready to rip the paper when he looked down and saw the blue kit sitting and staring.

"What are you looking at?" Shadow almost made his voice sound menacing.

'... Ofcourse he doesn't know how to treat a baby... hmph. Nice idea Knuckles...' the kit sighed.

Shadow caught a grumbling sound coming from the hedgie's stomach.

'I'd kill for a chili dog right now...' Sonic slowly put his hand on his stomach.

'He's hungry. Great... I don't even have a bottle. I guess i have to go... Shop-... I'll call Rouge.' He heard the grumbling again and sighed, 'I'll just have to warm up some milk and spoon feed it.' He swooped up the basket and walked to the kitchen. It was small, but he didn't really use it much. His energy came from chaos energy. not food. He placed the basket on the table and opened the fridge.

'Woah! He has some left over chili in there! He even has some doggies in there!' Sonic looked around the kitchen to see if the last ingredient was around, 'Fruit. Cereal. THERE! Hotdog buns! I can't believe it! I thought he said chili dogs were nothing but slop to him!'

Shadow found his objective item and a small pot. He poured some milk in and started warming it up. 'Hopefully this kit won't cry.'

"Ga boo."

"Huh?" Shadow looked at the blue hedgie and saw him pointing to the Hotdog buns. "You're too young for that..." Shadow replied with a hint of boredom. Sonic pointed at the refrigerator, the buns, and then at Shadow. 'What is he trying to say?' Sonic continued to point at the items until Shadow realized the ingredients that he had in the fridge. He walked over to the baby.

"If you're asking for a chili dog, then no. But you'll get one at some point inyour life. They're actually pretty good. The first time I tried one was when that faker stole my lunch and left me that. "

A giggle escaped the blue kit's lips. Shadow merely peeled of his right glove, washed his hands, and dipped his finger to test the milk. 'Close, but just a bit more.' He smiled inwardly, 'If only Maria could see me now...'

_Flashback_

"If you don't rest then you'll end up tired tomorrow." Shadow spoke with a hint of annoyance.

"But I can't sleep. I'm too hyper!" Maria jumped on the bed and laughed as Shadow pinched the bridge of his nose.

"The proffessor said something about..."

"Warm milk? Oh yeah! That usually helps when I feel giddy." she smiled and Shadow was amused by her behavior.

"I'll be back in a few minutes." The door slid open and Shadow headed for the Ark's kitchen.

_End of Flashback_

'Hmph... only a few minutes wasn't exactly accurate. The milk always seemed to have an "_accident_" in the pot. I lost count on how many times I bur- I mean tried to get it just right. By the time i got back, she had already fallen asleep.' He unknowingly chuckled.

'He's laughing?! I wonder why?' Sonic curiosity got the best of him as he tried to get out of the basket.

"Alright, milk is ready." Shadow poured the milk into a cup and grabbed a spoon. That's when he noticed the baby slowly losing his balance as he tried to stand, "Already trying to walk?" He rushed right when the kit began to topple over and caught him by his scruff. The hedgie stopped moving instantly. Shadow placed him back on the basket and sighed. "You're gonna be a handful." 'For the night that is. He's going back to Knuckles and Tails tomorrow.'

'Believe me when I say I would loooove to torture you more, but sadly I still want to be alive tomorrow..'

Shadow dipped the spoon and drew it close to the hedgie's mouth, "Open wide."

'How about no.' Sonic turned his face.

"Don't start with this little game." Shadow glared. "It's either this or going to sleep with nothing."

'Why does he always have to have good reasons? Why didn't I eat the Chili dogs before I went to chase Egghead?' Defeatedly, he opened his mouth and felt the warm milk and cold spoon.

"Was that so bad?" Shadow asked calmly.

Sonic shook his head and opened his mouth again, but instead of another spoonful, he was lifted and staring at Shadow straight in the face.

"Do you... Understand me?" Shadow asked suddenly. Sonic knodded and he was put back in the basket and given another spoonful of milk, "You are pretty interesting. In your own way, I mean." Shadow began to muse, 'Could Eggman have tried to create his own version of myself? But then, that's why he created Shadow androids didn't he?'

He was cut from his thoughts as he noticed all the milk in the cup was gone and a soft yawn penetrated the still air. He couldn't help but yawn as well.

"Guess that makes two of us." He picked up the baby and headed for his room.

'I hope his room isn't as dark as his personality.' Sonic burped as the patting on his back stopped, 'How does he know these things?'

Shadow opened the door and turned on the light. Sonic's eyes opened wide. The room was painted night blue and there was a king size bed in the middle with cabinets on either side. A few bubble chairs hung on either corners of the room and on one of the walls was a big t.v.. The walls seemed to be made of glass and the floors were light blue and made out of marble. As he was put on the bed, the sheets felt plush and soft. He automatically curled up into a ball and got comfortable. Shadow placed pillows on the edges of the bed and a few on the floor for precaution.

"You havn't even seen the best part of the room." Shadow replied and went to the light switch.

Sonic's ears twitched, 'There's more?' The lights shut and he was greeted by hundreds of shining stars projected on the cieling. They looked almost real! 'It's like his room is a space theme! I need to get one of these in my room.'

Shadow made a small smile as he saw the hedgies reaction. He was practically doing the puppy dog eyes and they were shining like the stars themselves.

"Get some rest, we have a busy day tomorrow." Shadow lied down on the other side of the bed and closed his eyes, 'What name should I give the kit? Ugh! Why am I even thinking about that anyways? Knuckles, Tails, I'm coming for you.'

As the hours past, a whimper disrupted the silence.

**SuperSonicSpeed: Another Chapter down!**

**Shadow: You're making me take care of a baby...**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Yes?**

**Shadow: -.- That explains why you gave us a "break" from the Disclaimer today...**

**Sonic: NO CHILI DOGS!?**

**SuperSonicSpeed: *slowly heads towards the exit***

**Shadow: *Blocks the door* Oh no you don't. You're gonna suffer through Sonic's anctics while _I_ leave.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Hehe... Oh boy... While Sonic's freaking out, Thank you readers! Review please! Let me know if you all want more cute Fatherly Shadow chapters. I'm debating if I should just make a ton or a few chapters like these. Let me know what you think! Thanks again and see you next time!**


	4. Bring It!

**Shadow: I'm back... *See's a mess of chili everywhere* ... I'm leaving!**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Oh no you don't! You're staying right here!**

**Shadow: *glare***

**SupeSonicSpeed: That's NOT gonna work!**

**Shadow: Whatever. What happened here? Dare I ask...**

**Sonic: Exploding chili! It was AWESOME Shads!**

**Shadow: 'Oh no... a chili story. Let's see, suffer through Sonic's chili tale or SuperSonicSpeed's torture story...' SHE OWNS NOTHING! START THE STORY NOW!**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Alright! Before I do though...**

**Shadow: *GLARE***

**Sonic: And when the pot started to melt...!**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Slight writers block! Hope you like! Start!**

Shadow felt slightly uneasy when he started hearing whimpering. His eyes snapped open when he realized the whimper's came from the small kit. He picked him up and walked to a rocking chair on the side of a large window that took up most of the wall. 'Hm... his face is scrunched up like if he were in pain.'

He carefully sat on the rocking chair and started to rock back and forth gently.

"Shh..." He cooed.

The hedgie let out another small whimper but slowly began to relax in the elder hedgehog's arms.

'Bad dream? Or maybe... Oh no.' He started to sniff around to pick up any undesirable scents, but nothing came. 'Phew... Though I don't think I'm going to get lucky like this all the time.'

Shadow looked down and saw a smile creeping onto the baby's features and took that as a sign that whatever the baby was suffering through had past. He got up slowly, as to not wake the kit, and put him back on the bed where he once was.

'I should probably stay awake a bit longer just incase anything else happens.' Shadow sat down and decided to look out the window to the stars above where the Ark would be. Slowly, his memories flooded his mind.

_**In Sonic's Dream**_

A smiling hedgehog ran at neck breaking speeds when a glint caught his eye. He approached it cautiously and began to examine the flower. 'A flower... made of metal?' He picked it and continued his run. Had he stayed, he would've noticed the ground the flower used to be in slowly became metalic as well.

_**Outisde**_

Sonic awoke in Shadow's arms. He noticed he was no longer on the bed but next to a sunlit window. When he looked up, he saw Shadow with closed eyes, 'Hm? Why did we leave the bed?'

"Ba Boo?" Shadows eyes snapped open and looked down. A slight softness was in them as he looked at the confused little one.

"You were whimpering in your sleep and I thought the rocking chair would help." He shrugged, "Now then... Why are you making that face?"

Then the smell came, 'Ofcourse...'

'Why did I just do that!' Sonic was also, not too happy about his little accident.

"Stay here, I'll improvise a diaper." Shadow walked to a cabinet and grabbed a t-shirt. A rip was heared and he came back with a square cloth. 'I guess it was a good thing that Maria made me play dolls with her or else this would be a problem.'

Sonic blushed ferociously as Shadow began his "_mission_".

_**One Diaper Change Later**_

Sonic's blush had yet to go away but Shadow didn't seem disturbed. Instead, he just took him down to the kitchen and warmed up more milk. When he was fed, it was off to Tail's workshop. They were only a few miles away when the kit in Shadows arms spotted something from the corner of his eye. As they got closer, he confirmed his suspision.

'A RIVER! I was hoping Shadow wouldn't take this path!' The kit snuggled closer to Shadow and his small hands grabbed onto Shadow's white chest fur. This action did not go unoticed. Shadow wondered what triggered this reaction. As he neared the edge of the river, he got his answer. The kit was holding on for dear life!

"I won't let you go," Shadow reassured, "But it would be wise to get over your fear." Sonic didn't like where this was going. Shadow held on a bit tighter and progressed into the water slowly. "It's not very deep, so don't worry." The kit shut his eyes tight as he felt the water slowly rise. A whimper escaped and Shadow unknowingly held on a bit tighter.

"You can open your eyes you know." Sonic heeded Shadow's words and opened them. He paniced when he noticed they were in the middle of the river. 'He's trying to give me a heart attack!' He started squirming.

Shadow sighed, "Relax, We're in the deepest part and the water is barely touching your back." Sonic immediately stopped when he noticed this. He wasn't under the water and Shadow showed no sign of letting go. In fact, the water barely covered Shadow's stomach. When he finally felt secure Shadow decided to jump out and finish crossing the river. "That wasn't so bad. Was it?" The kit shook his head and smiled.

After a few minutes, they reached the workshop where Shadow was met by a note:

**_Dear Shadow,_**

**_Knuckles and I had to go to investigate something and..._ **

Different hand writing appeared,

**We knew you were gonna try to give us back the kit and that would just slow us down! But don't worry! We left you a suprise inside.**

Shadow could practically _see_ the smirk on the echidna as he wrote this. As for the surprise, he just had a gut feeling he wouldn't like it. 'I should just turn and leave,' he stepped down the one stair when his ear twitched to a sound inside. 'What was that?' He approached the door once more, 'I have a feeling I'm going to regret this...' Shifting the kit to his left arm, he opened the suspiciously unlocked door and walked in halfway without letting go of the doorknob.

"SURPRISE!" Echoed the voices of all Sonic's friends.

The kit smiled and began laughing. Looking at all the decor and food.

Meanwhile, Shadow wasn't exactly surprised, but just a bit dumbfounded. This was _NOT_ what he was expecting. He began to observe the surroundings while still holding on to the doorknob like a life line, 'Presents on a table with blue wrapping paper and bows, a table full of games, a table full of food, a blue cake, and a banner that says 'Happy Babyshower'.'

Shadows mind *Processing, Processing, Processing* "..." He began to take a step back and shut the door when he bumped into something metalic. He was gently pushed forward by none other than Omega.

"Oh, stop being such a sour puss Shadow!" Rouge walked out of the crowd, "We heard that you were recently given a bundle of joy and we just wanted to help. Oh my! Is this him?" She looked at the young kit and attempted to take him out of Shadow's arm. But Shadow unconciously tightened his hold. "My," Rouge smirked, "Arn't you the protective parent."

Shadow grunted and looked away, "Hmph, you can hold the kit if you like." He released his hold and Rouge cradled the baby.

"Well, look at those gems you call eyes! They're practically emeralds! Like another hedgehog we all know." Rouge exclaimed making the hedgie blush, "and your little face is already turning into a ruby like the tinge in your eyes."

'Funny, you compare me to _me_ and _nobody_ can figure out we're the _same_ person.' Sonic wanted to hide under a rock...

"Do you always have to make quotes related to jewlery?" Shadow almost face palmed.

"What can I say, gems are just my game." She took the kit to the others to show off and Shadow suddenly felt... Lonely? Yearning? Worry!? He quickly shook it off.

'I've been around the kit too long. It's only a matter of time before I say he's my...' Shadow shook his head again, 'What is wrong with me today?!' Shadow turned and saw Omega blocking the door. He looked at the windows and saw them barricaded, 'Guess they knew I might try something funny.' He chuckled dryly as he made his way to a seat in a corner. Then the computer screens behind him came to life.

"Hi Shadow!" The young voice yelled.

Shadow didn't bother turning around, "Tails, tell that Knuckle headed echidna he is gonna be in a world of hurt."

"Already heard yah!" Knuckles laughed, "Relax and enjoy the party! Besides we're busy with... something"

That minor pause made the ultimate life form turn around.

"I can't say any details now, but we _will_ eventually tell you. It's the least we can do after we threw..." Coughing sounds came from Tails, "I mean _I_, threw the basket through your chimney."

Shadow just shrugged. "Whatever. But realize I'm not playing any games in this little..." He almost sneered the next word. "Party."

"Oh, I'm sure you will." Knuckles chuckled, "See you later! Oh! By the way, our present is the big one with the blue bow."

"That narrows it down." Shadow sarcastically commented.

Knuckled rolled his eyes, "It should have a pink present on top. That one is Amy's by the way."

Shadow knodded and the transmission ended. That's when he realized everyone staring at him with a smile.

"What?" Shadow started to feel uncomfortable as he looked around for the baby.

"Let's play a game." Rouge smiled.

"No way. I don't have to put up with those types of things." He said crossing his arms.

Jet stepped in, "Forget it. He won't play. Besides, I bet the ultimate life form just doesn't want to embarass himself infront of everybody."

This made Shadows eye twitch, "Excuse me?"

"You heard me hedgehog. I bet you'd lose at every game." Jet laughed.

Shadow saw the baby giggling and he snapped a bit, "Oh, you're ON hawk!" Shadow and Jet had a stare down moment and Rouge anounced the first game.

"Alright everyone! I decided to make it all boys first and then all the girls. Sounds fair right?" Everyone cheered, "O.k. The first game is called don't drop the baby. Each one of you will be blindfolded and you will have a spoon with an egg in your mouth. If you drop the egg, you're out. First one through the finish line wins.

"Get ready to lose hedgehog."

"You'll eat those words hawk."

As soon as the blindfolds were placed, Rouge added one more surprise, "Oh! I forgot to mention one thing. You'll be spinned before you start."

"What!?" All the boys exclaimed, except for a certain confident hedgehog.

The kit laughed as he saw his "new daddy" being spinned. 'Never thought I'd see you play games Shads. But you could at least smile.'

"START!"

The boys all started slow and were slightly disoriented. Big the cat tripped after trying to make a run for it. Silver was going the opposite direction. Storm tripped over his own shoes. Leaving Jet and Shadow.

'MAN! This dizzy spell won't wear off!' Jet complained.

'This is too easy.' Shadow practically sounded bored in his mind. In fact, he was walking normally while Jet walked like a person who had one too many drinks.

As they both neared the finish line, Jet tripped and also knocked over Shadow making them both hear a CRACK sound. They both took off the blind folds to see Jets egg on the floor cracked straight down the middle and Shadow's egg still on the spoon, safe from any harm. Best part, the trip let him cross the finish line. Everyone cheered and Shadow looked at Jet with a smirk.

"Next game hedgehog!" Yelled Jet. Silver was on his way when he tripped over the carpet, making the egg he had in his hand fly and land on Jet's head.

The only thing that could be heard was the laughter of a blue kit echoing through the workshop and the grunts of a green hawk with a slow cooking egg on his head.

**SuperSonicSpeed: And there you have it! Another chapter down!**

**Shadow: ... Games?**

**SupeSonicSpeed: What's wrong with that?**

**Shadow: Don't know. Tell me how this sounds, The ULTIMATE LIFE FORM playing baby games.**

**Sonic: C'mon Shads! That's no big deal!**

**Shadow: I should've listened to the chili tale Sonic had...**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Hey! At least you didn't end up with an egg on your head AND it's a competition! Think about it! You're practically proving you're the ultimate life form.**

**Shadow: *GLARE***

**SuperSonicSpeed: So much for that. ANYWAYS! Thank you readers and to those who review! It's nice to get feed back and hear what you think. If there's a game you would like to see in this story, PM me, to keep it a secret from the rest, or Review. Again, THANK YOU and see y'all next chapter. :) Shadow, if you keep glaring your face will get stuck like that. Oh, wait a minute, it already has.**

**Shadow: *Vein pop***

**SuperSonicSpeed: GOTTA RUN! **


	5. Let's Finish This

**SuperSonicSpeed: Woo hoo! Next chapter!**

**Shadow: *leans against a wall with arms crossed* Sonic can take care of this Disclaimer.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: You're on Sonic! Sonic: Alright! *Clears throat* She owns nothing! Can we have chili dogs now?**

**SuperSonicSpeed: But we just had some.**

**Sonic: I... NEED... MOOORE!**

**Shadow: He's the chili monster...**

**Sonic: *Shoves 3 chilidogs in his mouth***

**SuperSonicSpeed: Agreed... I'm gonna hide for my own safety... hehe...**

"Speak"

'_Thoughts_'

"Alright everyone! Settle down. We have two more games to go and then we'll see who gets the grand prize." Rouge was ecstatic that Shadow actually played. Sonic was equally surprised as all the boys waited for their next game.

"Hmph! I can already tell this next game is mine!" Jet was already trying to rub his 'future victory' in everyones faces.

"This next game will be in pairs." Rouge took out a hat and started to go around for people to draw names. "First pair is..."

"Hey Hedgehog," Jet whispered ignoring the pairs called, "You better hope my partner and I don't kick your butt!"

Shadow just ignored him.

"And the last pair is Jet and Shadow!" Jet's face was the definition of stunned, shocked, and flabergasted.

'_Out of all the guys! WHY?!_'

"Try not too screw up too much." Shadow said as he followed the others.

"This game is called Guy Hoops! In this one, one of you will throw a diaper to your parter and the other has to try to toss it into their own assigned bin."

"That's really far!" Big replied eyeing the bin's distance.

"Well it's no fun when it's easy now is it." Rouge responded as she tickled the blue kits tummy. "I'll even let you have a test shot."

"I'll be the one throwing the hoops! Got it." The green hawk announced.

"Whatever..." Shadow walked over to the bin full of diapers. '_What's that smell?_' The aroma went up his sensitive nose and he smirked, '_Hope you have good hand eye coordination Jet._'

"Alright, start your test shot!" Rouge shouted.

The rolled up diapers flew and when they were in the air, Rouge came in with another surprise, "By the way, those diapers have something extra inside."

"WHAT!?" SPLAT! Some caught the diaper without having an explosion. Others, wern't so lucky.

"What is this!?" Jet complained as he looked at the green and brown slop over his arms.

"Baby food. Three types actually, peas, banana, and turkey with gravy. Miss the catch, and they explode. Now then, START!"

More diapers came flying. Shadow didn't really mind if he lost this game. Watching Jet get stressed, complaining, and covered in baby food was quite amusing.

The hedgie laughed his hearts content. '_Man Jet! You may be good with your extreme gear, but here, you extremely suck!_' (I know, cheesy joke... -.-)

"STOP! Now let's see who won." Rouge smiled as she went through the baskets. The boys covered in baby food laughed. Except Jet who was fuming. Silver used his telekanetic abillities and took off the baby food from their fur.

"The winners are... Silver and Big!" They both smiled and high fived while Jet went to get a drink without a word to the smirking hedgehog.

Rouge was setting up the final game when Shadow came from behind.

"Sorry hun, but I can't tell you ahead of time what this game is."

"I'm not here for that. I just wanted to..." Shadow saw no sign of the kit, "Nevermind." He started to walk away.

"He's with Blaze. He was falling asleep and I didn't want to wake him."

Shadow looked around and saw the kit wrapped in a new blanket with his eyes closed. He inwardly smiled and walked back to the last game. He suddenly paused, '_Why am I playing?_' He turned and saw Jet laughing out loud. Blaze had a not so friendly face as she pulled the kit closer to her. He could hear whimpers from the kit as it struggled to stay asleep. '_Oh. That's why._' He walked over and pulled Jet towards the others.

"What was that all about!? Don't tell me you've developed a soft spot." Jet smirked.

"No. I just couldn't wait to beat you in the last game." Shadow mentioned matter of factly.

Jet only grunted, "We lost the last one because of your lazy throw."

Shadow kept his cool, "Oh really, last I saw, you couldn't even throw far enough to reach the half way point."

"Alright you two! Settle down!" Rouge interupted, "This last one is an obstacle course!"

Everyone gathered around the yard and saw what would be the most... well, you decide what to say for yourself.

"In this obstacle course, you will have a stroller with a baby doll inside. The baby must be in the stroller by the time you cross the finish line. If it falls out, you're out. There are three stops you must do. First one is you have to change the baby's diaper blindfolded and when I say you're good, you run your way to the next table. There, you have to grab the stick, put it on your forehead, and spin 15 times. As soon as you're done, zig zag through the cones that are set up in a straight line. If you topple one over, you have to put it back up and start over." Rouge walked over to the last table and their eyes widened when they saw 6 baby bottles on the table, "Last, you have to drink from one of these baby bottles until the content inside is finished." She smiled as everyone started laughing.

"NO WAY!" All the boys exclaimed.

"Sorry, but you all agreed to play." Rouge smirked.

Everyone sighed, "Fine..." They went next to the strollers.

"One more thing!" The boys tensed. Everytime Rouge said this, there was an undesirable twist, "Anything goes! EXCEPT, cutting through the course. Other than that, have your fun." All the guys smirked, already guessing what they were gonna do. "GO!"

The kit woke up just in time to see Shadow taking the lead and reach the first obstacle after dodging Jet's attempt to knock over his stroller. Some of the guests were prepared with the blindfolds. Once it was tied nice and tight, they started their baby changes.

'_This is easy even blindfolded_' Shadow looked like and expert! Rouge was even surprised.

'_Where is the sticky part? Wait, where are the legs? Shouldn't they be coming out of the diaper?_' Jet accidently put the diaper on the baby doll's head, '_Oh man! I put the baby upside down!_' He quickly began to undo the diaper.

'_Wonder if babies like fishing?_' Big was just happy he was playing.

'_This is a sinch with my abbilities._' Silver laughed

'_Why do babies even have diapers!_' Storm had already lost his baby doll... and the diaper...

'_To be stooped down from ninja status to diaper tamer. This isn't exactly my speacialty._' Espio just wanted to finish.

Shadow, Silver, and Espio were given the go while the others started their mini freak out.

They reached the next table and started spinning. Silver finished spinning first, but knocked over the 3rd cone and had to start over. Espio and Shadow darted, evading each cone. "Storm and Big are out!" Rouge yelled. Jet arrived at the cones and Silver just finished his run through. '_Gotta catch up!_' Jet spinned as fast as he could, waited a bit for the dizzy spell to wear off, and darted through without a problem. '_Anything goes._' He smirked.

They all paused when they reached the baby bottles. A few snicker were heard from the audience. Each one staring at each other and then the bottle. They all picked one up but still hesitated. That is, until Jet swallowed his pride and started drinking from the bottle. Espio glared at the bottle, not even wanting to take a sip. Silver gave one last look and went for it. Shadow just observed the bottle.

'_Is he really gonna do it?_' The kit stared intently.

'_Anything goes... Anything goes..._' That's when it hit him! He bit the top of the bottle and ripped off the rubber cover. Then, chugged the contents. Espio was the first to notice and did the same thing.

"That's not fair!" Jet yelled.

"Anything goes hawk!" Shadow yelled back as he crossed the finish line. Everyone cheered and Rouge presented him with the grand prize, a new music player.

Shadow took the prize and saw the baby hedgie reaching out to him.

'_What am I doing!? Ah! I think I'm falling back to baby instincts!_' Sonic continued to have his arms out. Blaze walked over and gave him to Shadow.

"What's his name anyways?" Blaze asked curiously. Shadow kept his poker face.

"I havn't given him one yet."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared.

"Shadow! You know that's the first thing a baby needs to recieve!" Rouge exclaimed, "Sit down! The kit's gonna have a name by the end of this party."

'_Oh the joy._' Shadow and Sonic thought sarcastically.

Shadow rolled his eyes. It's not like he cared what the name was.

"How about Shadow Jr.!" Someone yelled.

Ok... Maybe he did care.

"Bubbles!" The kit cringed and Shadow shook his head, that name was too, soft.

"It'd be funny if we had two Sonic's" Big laughed. The kit knodded his head furiously, '_Call me that! Call me that!_'

Shadow shook his head, "I think one annoying hedgehog is enough."

'_Had a feeling he would say no..._' The kit felt someone yank him up from his scruff and automatically went limp.

"How about Aoi kaze? Since he's so blue and hey, he might even be fast. He almost looks like a combination of you and Sonic. Maybe he has the same gift as both of you." Jet inquired.

Everyone thought about it. It seemed like a cool name, but to Shadow, something was missing. He took the kit away from Jet and stared him straight in the eyes. Then, got an idea all his own. Everyone was still shouting out random names when Shadow stood up.

"I made up my mind." Everyone stopped and listened intently. A few whispers saying, "I bet he chose the name I yelled out."

'_They say that when you name something, you become attached to it,_' Shadow looked at the kit, '_Let's find out if that only happens wives tales._'

Shadow looked up, "His name is..."

**SuperSonicSpeed: *Comes out of hiding* And I've run out of time! That, and I couldn't resist leaving it like this. Don't throw tomatoes at me!**

**Sonic: So, what name are you gonna give me Shads?**

**Shadow: Ask the author, not me.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: It's a secret! But hey, I'm sure someone might figure it out. Also, I havn't forgotten Eggman! Just hasn't felt like the right time to fit him in. But he will come in soon! Eventually. Someday. :) Till next time folks! OH! Thanks again for the reviews! Very helpful and encouraging! Your reviews give me the 'gotta keep going' feeling, which is AWESOME!. So, don't stop your reviews! I'm always happy to read them and take advice! :) PEACE! Um... Shadow,** **you can put my violin down now...**

**Shadow: Just wanted to set the sappy mood in the back.**

**Sonic: Play Yankee Doodle! **

**Shadow: How about I play "Wack the Hedgehog"**

**Sonic: Way ahead of you! *Takes out his guitar***

**SuperSonicSpeed: *Puts on headphones***


	6. Reality

**SuperSonicSpeed: *Cleans off tomatoes* Did I keep everyone waiting too long!? :)**

**Sonic: What's my name!?**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Your name is Sonic! **

**Sonic: You know what I mean... It's taken you till 6 chapters to come up with a name. It better be impressing! Like maybe, Lightning or Blue Flash!**

**SuperSonicSpeed: um...**

**Shadow: If you keep it up, I'll convince SuperSonicSpeed to call you Faker.**

**Sonic: *Gulps* So about the Disclaimer... She owns nothing! And well, yeah, she owns nothing.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: There is NO way I would even consider...**

**Shadow: *Glare***

**SuperSonicSpeed: You glare to much... ONWARD!**

"SPEAK"

'_THOUGHTS_'

Shadow looked up, "His name is... Dash. Dash the Hedgehog."

**Sonic: THAT'S MY NAME! It took you 6 chapters for a 4 letter name!?**

**SuperSonicSpeed: HEY! Don't interupt the reader!**

Everyone was silent... '_I guess the name wasn't what they..._'

A giggle was heard as the blue kit clapped happilly, '_I Like it!_'

The crowd smiled and agreed. The name seemed fitting. "I wish I thought of that!" and "I bet he had a baby name book" could be heard in the crowd.

"Looks like you finally got a name Dash." Rouge scratched behind his ear and the kit relaxed under the touch. "Where did you get the idea from Shadow."

"... Does it matter?" Shadow seemed like he was trying to avoid this conversation all together.

"Oh c'mon. I won't tell anyone." Rouge urged.

Shadow sighed, he knew Rouge wouldn't let up until she knew, "Car races." With that he walked away.

'_He watches that!?_' When she turned around, everyone had already surrounded the ebony hedgehog. He did NOT look too happy. Shadow liked his space, so all the sudden attention was udesirable.

"Time to cut the cake and presents!" Rouge yelled out, "C'mon Shadow! You get to cut the cake!" She smiled. Shadow just wanted to leave. He already played their games and came. Not entirely by will, BUT he stayed! As he approached the cake he read, 'Congrats on the new Boy Shadow'. He sighed as Rouge took the baby and gave him the cake knife. He saw people with cameras, '_Great,_' he thought in a sarcastic tone, '_So much for trying to forget the events of today._' He cut once and the cameras flashed. '_Don't chaos spear... Don't chaos spear. DON'T chaos spear._' He quickly made a second cut and plated it.

"Nice job," Rouge knodded, "How about a trade?" She gave him the baby and cake while she took the knife.

'_CHOCOLATE CAKE! THAT"S MY FAVORITE! I hope Shadow at least gives me some frosting._' The kit stared at the cake with a slight drool and wide eyes.

Shadow sat down at his corner again and noticed how the cake seemed to put a hypnotic spell on his "son". He moved the cake left, the eyes moved left. To the right, eyes go right. Up, down, and practically any other direction. Shadow heard a laugh.

"Already torturing the kit?" Silver laughed again, "I wonder how your hedgie will turn out in the future."

'_Certainly NOT like Sonic._' Shadow shrugged, "Who knows."

Silver got the kits attention, "Does mean daddy not wanna give you cake?"

The kit knodded, '_Yeah! He also snores at night and doesn't let anyone sleep! It's a wonder why I rarely saw animals at night!_'

Silver dabbed a finger in the chocolate frosting and applied it all over the kits face.

'_Hey! Does my face look like a plate to you!_' The kit started eating the frosting anyways.

Shadow sighed, grabbed a fork, and started feeding the kit frosting.

'_Now this is service!_' The kit laughed as Silver and Shadow conversed.

"How did you find the kit anyways?" Silver Questioned.

"In a basket within my chimney." Shadow replied remembering the events.

"...? Isn't it too early for..."

Shadow interupted, "My thoughts exactly. If you're wondering about where he came from, I recommend you talk to..."

"Us." Knuckles came in. Tails going for the ongoing buffet.

"Hey! where were you guys?" Silver exclaimed.

Knuckles's smile faded a bit, "I'll tell both of you tomorrow. For now, let's enjoy the last of the party." He walked away.

'_I wonder why they're so sa... OOO! CAKE!_' Sonic was fed another fork full of frosting forgeting the current problem.

"If I didn't know any better, it's about Faker. The fox doesn't look that glum unless he's involved." Shadow assumed.

"Did something happ-" Silver was interupted.

"Present time!" Rouge yelled.

"That bat is gonna be the end of me..." Shadow covered his face with his hand. He felt a gloved hand pull him towards a pile of presents, a seat next to them, and around that, a lot of cameras and people. '_If I manage to not chaos blast, it'll be a miracle._'

A Ton of Presents Later... Though to Shadow it was an eternity...

"Arn't you going to say something?" Rouge whispered and nudged his elbow.

Shadow grit his teeth and swallowed, "Thank you for... your... gifts..."

Everyone smile and said, "You're welcome!" in unision.

"Alright guys! Let's enjoy the last of this party and start cleaning!" Rouge yelled as everyone scampered to the dance floor.

Shadow looked at the turn out.

- Baby Monitors, '_I might use these, though I rather keep him in my room just in case... What did I just say?_'

- 3 Warm Blankets, '_These will be good for the coming winter._'

- 1 Baby Carrier, '_... I don't even want to comment..._'

- 1 Stoller, '_I wonder if the wheels are friction resistant._' He smirked.

- A lot of clothes and pajamas, '_Looks like someone thought he was a girl._' He looked at the pink footie pajamas.

- 6 Bibs, '_I don't think I'll use the one that says "Starts up here, and ends in my diapy". Don't need a bib to tell me the food's journey..._'

- 7 Bottles and cloths for his shoulders when it came time for burping, '_I needed these._'

- 3 pacifier, '_Hm... I shouldn't use these a lot. I heard that they can damage a baby's tee... and why am I thinking that!_' Shadow kicked himself.

- A lot of toys, '_I'm assuming they didn't read the small parts warning on this one... and there I go again._' Shadow rolled his eyes.

- A lot of diapers, '_These will save a trip to the store for about a week..._'

- A small hammer from Amy, '_This better be made out of rubber._' Shadow tested it on a plastic cup. It immediately dissintergrated, '_He's definately not getting this right now._'

- 1 fishing pole, '_This was surely from Big. Hm... a father/son fishing tri-..._' Shadow shook his head.

- And that last present that Knuckles told him not to open until he got home. '_What is that echidna up to?_' Shadow mused.

Shadow looked at the sleeping form in his arms, '_He had a long day, I should get going._'

The place was cleaned and everyone was saying goodbye. He felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Need help with the presents?" Knuckles asked. Shadow was about to say no, but he realized he couldn't exactly carry everything with the baby in his arms.

"Fine..." Shadow saw Tails boarding the Tornado and walked over. Knukcles didn't expect much of an answer, so he put the presents in a secret compartment in the plane.

"Everything's in Tails! Safe trip!" Knuckles yelled. Shadow covered the baby's ears.

"Got it! Hold on Shadow!" The engines reved to life and took off. As soon as the noise was gone, he uncovered them.

"So tell me, where is that hyperactive hedgehog?" Tails tensed and tried to relax, "I don't know."

"Hmph, you trying to hide that faker..." Tails interupted Shadow.

"No! We really don't know where he is. We assumed he took off for an adventure but he usually tells someone before leaving. Plus, he was going to come back right after defeating Eggman's new fleet."

"In shorter terms, he dissapeared." Shadow became pensive.

"Y-yeah..." Tails's face saddened.

"Have you tried checking Eggmans base's?"

"We searched them all, but there was no trace of him. I think he may have made a new base. Knuckles is going to try to use the Master Emerald to locate him."

'_What is the doctor up to?_' Shadow unknowingly held the blue kit closer to him. The rest of the trip was quiet.

_**At Shadow's House**_

Shadow jumped out of the plane and landed quietly to not wake the baby. The little one sneezed and sniffled.

'_I need to get him inside before he catches a cold._'

"Where should I put these?" Tails asked with a ton of boxes in his arms.

"You can leave them in the living room." He opened the door, ran upstairs to put the kit on the bed and rushed downstairs to finish carrying the stuff in.

"There's one more!" Tails yelled from outside. Shadow was about to go out to get it when a certain red echidna came in with it.

"Now you can open it." He smiled and waited with Tails at his side.

Shadow looked at it and then started peeling off the wrapping paper. The box turned out to be an inflatable ball pit with a small slide to the side.

"I figured that whenever you're too busy with G.U.N. paper work and stuff, this would entertain him." Knuckles crossed his arms.

'_G.U.N.! With all the fiasco I forgot to report my findings of the last mission!_' Shadow looked up and simply knodded. He noticed one more small box.

"That one's from me." Tails shyly stated, "I thought he might like it when he's older."

Shadow opened it and saw a remote control plane. '_This could be entertaining._' Shadow knodded again.

"Alright, we're gonna hit the hay for tomorrow." Knuckles stretched.

"I know that Sonic's missing."

Knuckles paused mid stretch, "Well, now you know why we've been busy. We'll tell everyone else tomorrow, till then." Knuckles and Tails walked out.

Shadow checked on the kit and noticed him scrunching up his face. He touched the kits forehead, '_No fever._' The kit raised his hands to his head, '_Another nightmare? Hm..._' He started patting the hedgies head and the kit returned to his relaxed position. '_Now for G.U.N.,_' a pause, '_Should they even know about the kit? No, If they did,_' He clenched his fist, '_They'd probably experiment on him._' A hint of pain hit his heart as he imagined his son with closed eyes, floating in a tube full of water and connected to wires. Shadow tried shaking it off as he walked to the rocking chair and sat down. He then looked at a picture of Maria, him, and Gerald. '_I miss them. I bet Maria would've loved to meet Dash and I'm sure the professor would have started to observe him from afar for any unique atributes._' His gaze shifted to the kit and the look he had was like if he was staring straight at an emerald. No, something more precious than an emerald like, Maria? Realization struck, '_I'm starting to get... attached?_' He was brought back to reality when he started recieving a call from G.U.N. '_Speak of the devil._'

_**In Eggmans Base**_

"Doctor, what are you doing with Sonic's shoes and gloves?" asked Decoe.

"All in good time," Eggman seemed to be tinkering with something when a beeping sound came, "Excelent. As long as this continues and no one suspects the kit is Sonic, everything will fall into place. HOHOHOHOHO!"

"Oh! Can't we get a hint doctor!?" Bocoe pleaded.

Eggman stopped laughing, "Not this time. Knowing both of you, you may end up blabbing out the plan to the world! This plan is too goos for you two to screw it all up!" He took off the yellow buckles from the famous striped shoes and began tinkering once again. The beeping started again and he started reading the stats, '_9%... This is gonna be a long wait. But if everything goes as planned, I could care less about time._' He started laughing, '_Soon Eggmanland _will_ come to be!_'

**Sonic: Dash... Dash... Hm...**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Don't like the name?**

**Sonic: Sure I do! But Sonic sounds waaaay better!**

**Shadow: Not in my house...**

**Sonic: Awwww! You're starting to care!**

**Shadow: ...**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Thank you readers for reading!**

**Shadow: Isn't that why they're called readers?**

**SuperSonicSpeed: ... ANYWHO! Thank you for reading! Appreciate the comments, suggestions, the follows, and favorites! This chapter went from happy to serious, which felt a bit wierd to me, but hopefully the transition didn't feel wierd to you all. On a lighter note! What do you all think of the name? I'm curious of what everyone was thinking it was going to be. Well, till next chapter! I'm gonna be fighting a monster called writers block, so, wish for the best!**

**Writers Block: RAAAAAAAWWWWRRR!**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Go away... please? At least wait a bit longer before you start bugging me!**


	7. Trouble Brews

**SuperSonicSpeed: *Deep breath***

**Sonic: What happened?!**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Writers Block... I threw a newspaper at it.**

**Shadow: And?**

**SuperSonicSpeed: It started spitting out the comics I don't understand!**

**Shadow: You're joking.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: *Straightens up* Nope. *Hands Shadow a comic* I actually lost it on my way back.**

**Shadow: Figures. *reads it* I don't get it...**

**Sonic: Let me see! *reads it* um... *Sonic Boom echoes***

**SuperSonicSpeed: Warned you... Story Time! oh... I OWN NOTHING!**

Light engulfed Shadow's room and went straight to the kits closed eyes. He cringed and closed them tighter.

'_Sunlight. You'd think Shadow would have some curta-. Where'd the light go?_' Curiosity won and he took a peek. Shadow had rolled over to block the sun from hitting the young ones eyes. '_You aren't so bad Shadow. I'll give you that._' Sonic closed his eyes and fell back asleep.

'_Good, Dash went back to sleep._' He noticed a small movement saw his little one sucking his thumb, '_cute..._'

Another hour past and the sun no longer seemed to be a bother, Shadow slowly rose and went downstairs to warm the milk.

'_Hopefully he'll get used to the bottle._' After a few minutes, he went upstairs and was ready for action. The kit greeted him with a smile, but, '_The kits eyes. There's more of a red tinge than before. It's not much, but... maybe I'm overreacting about it._' He lifted the hedgie up and stared at the eyes.

'_Personal space!_' The baby was not comfortable.

Shadow put him on his lap and took out the bottle.

'_NO WAY! I'm not drinking from the bottle!_' He moved his head around avoiding every attempt.

"Listen, I can't spoon feed you all the time." He tried again but with no avail, "Alright, I'll play your little game." He started tickling the kit and his mouth opened wide with laughter, '_Gotcha._' But for some reason, he didn't hear the baby drinking from the bottle. '_He moved his head to the side... Of course._'

'_Nice try Shads, but I'm not about to fall for the oldest trick in the book. Try out plan B._' The kit smiled.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?"

The kit nodded and Shadow sighed, '_Wait a minute._' A smile appeared on his face.

'_What is he planning?_' The kit gulped. Shadow set the hedgie down on a safe place on the bed and disappeared. A few minutes later, a familiar smell came into the room. '_It can't be._' Shadow came in with a lovely looking chilidog, "Baba bo ga!"

Shadow smiled, "Of course it's for you." He put him on his lap again, "Open wide." The kit eagerly opened his mouth and closed his eyes waiting for the taste of delicious chili.

'_Hm? This chilidog tastes funny. Why does it taste like, RUBBER!_' He opened his eyes and saw the bottle, '_You trickster!_' He tried fighting out the bottle but Shadow wouldn't budge. So instead, he glared at him for using his favorite food in his plot.

"What? I did say it was for you, to see." Shadow grinned, "You should finish the bottle though. You didn't eat last night except for frosting and I was a bit..." He trailed off.

Sonic rolled his eyes and kept drinking, '_He seems a bit, off. Wonder what's on his mind._'

"How about we go to the park?" Shadow asked out of the blue.

The kit looked up with curiosity and did a slight nod. Shadow went over to the new clothes the kit had received as gifts and took out a pair of light blue sneakers with a white band, a pair of small white socks, and a light blue sweater. When they were ready and done, they went off to the park.

_**At The Park**_

It was quiet and serene. Squirrels ran around the trees, the skies were blue with clouds of many shapes, and the chirping of birds.

"AWWW! HE'S ADORABLE!" someone shouted.

'_Maybe not that quiet._' Shadow was enjoying the scenery and tranquility until moms passing through with their kids seemed to have non stop comments about his son.

"What a responsible father!" One said a bit too loudly. "If only my husband had a chance to do that with our kids." Another replied. "Wait a minute! Isn't that Shadow the Hedgehog?!" One yelled.

Shadow took that as his cue to leave the bench and head home, '_We've been here a while anyway._' The baby, on the other hand, pointed at the swings.

"Haven't we played enough for today?" Shadow stared.

'_NO WAY! It feels like forever since I've been out! Besides, all your games have been are put the block in the right shape and sky viewing._' The kit continued pointing.

"Fine. But only for a few minutes." Shadow put down a backpack, with everything a baby would ever need, and placed the hedgie in the baby swings. He began pushing the swing lightly and the kit smiled. Eventually, the kit yelled with glee as the swing went higher and higher, "If I knew this would make you happier, I would've brought you here sooner." The kit clapped at Shadows words.

After half an hour, Shadow put on his backpack and picked up Dash. When he looked up, he saw G.U.N. soldiers coming in both ways of the park. Not a lot to cause a panic, but enough to be on a small mission.

'_NO!_' He looked around the park, desperate to find a hiding spot for little Dash, '_The only place is behind the bushes. Hopefully, that'll be enough._' Hurrying, he put down the bag first. Then he leaned Dash against the bag for support. Last, was a small blanket for warmth. Silently he whispered, "Please, stay here. If any of the guys in uniform try to grab you, yell." Dash only nodded, wondering where the desperation was coming from.

'_Wait! Since when did he say please!?_' Dash wondered as Shadow walked away.

'_I already lost one person I truly cared about. I'm not about to risk losing another._' He acted as if he was only staring at the sky and leaned against a tree across from the bush the kit was hidden in.

"Project: Shadow," a soldier spoke "You have a new mission awaiting at G.U.N headquarters. We will escort you there."

"I'm busy. You can tell your commander I'll come in whenever I have the time." He crossed his arms and gave a glare.

"Those are not our orders." The soldier countered.

Shadow only shrugged and started walking away, aware of how close they were to his hedgie, '_I need to lead them away._'

"Commander, he refuses to come willingly." A soldier whispered into his communicator. Shadow made a small chaos spear and threw it to a motorcycle causing an explosion. Everyone turned to the direction of the blast.

'_Everyone's distracted, now's my chance._' Shadow swiftly jumped into the bushes, grabbed Dash, and ran, '_I'll come back for the things later. That is, if they're still there._'

The kit giggled as Shadow reached the speed of sound, '_THIS is entertainment!_'

"So speed really is your thing." Shadow commented as he raced faster. '_My home isn't safe. Not with G.U.N. looking for me._' He raced towards Tails's workshop, '_I'm coming here too often..._' He knocked on the door, but just like last time, no answer. '_They must be out looking for Sonic. Wait!_' He ran to the nearest river and found Big. '_He'll have to do for now._'

"Cat! I need you to do something."

"Hey look Froggie! It's Dash." Dash smiled and waved.

"I need you to stay with him for a bit. I need to do something and I can't bring him along."

"Sure! We'd be happy to. Right Froggie!?" The frog nodded at Big in approval, "We'll teach him how to fish too!"

Shadow put Dash in Big's arms, '_Be safe..._' a sigh, '_Definitely attached._' He didn't know what to think of it. The feeling was gone when Maria passed away. He never expected the feeling to come back again. He stared at Big and Dash. Dash was laughing as Big raised him up towards the sky. Shadow felt something. Hurt that he wasn't there? '_Worse. UGH! I have to get myself under control. Jealousy is not what I will stoop down to!_'

He raced to G.U.N. HQ where the commander waited. There was something in his eyes. What was it? He entered the commanders office and waited with his crossed arms.

"Tell me Shadow," the commander started, "Do you take me for a fool?"

'_In all honesty, yes I do._' Shadow inwardly smirked, "Why do you ask?"

The commander took out the backpack and blanket that Shadow had left behind the bush. Shadow almost lost his cool when the items appeared.

"You're showing me these items because?" He seemed bored on the outside, inside was a completely different story.

"I know you have a kit." The commander wanted to smile. Not a kind one, but one of eagerness and planning.

"I still don't know what you're talking about." Shadow was losing his patience, "Now are you going to give me the so called mission or am I going to have to leave and see this as wasted time." '_How did they know!?_'

A screen appeared and in view came Big being slapped around by a fish, Froggie who only stared, and little Dash laughing. Shadow couldn't believe it. '_Wait a minute._'

_**Flashback**_

Shadow was sitting at his desk with a stack of papers while Dash played in the ball pin. He felt a something soft hit the back of his head and heard laughter from the kit. When he looked down, he saw one of the plastic balls from the pit.

"You want to know what happens when you do that?" He spoke slowly. The kit automatically stopped laughing and stared. Shadow picked him up and put him on the couch. The kit closed his eyes to wait for an ear pulling or any other punishment that he could think of.

Shadow leaned in close to his ear and whispered, "They get attacked by the tickle monster."

Dash busted out laughing as he felt a tickling sensation on his tummy. '_STOP SHADOW!_' He began laughing harder as the tickling moved to his sides.

'_He actually does look adorable._' Shadow then heard a buzzing sound, '_Hm?_' As he turned he saw a mosquito looking at his son. He instantly crushed it, but instead of seeing a normal crushed bug, he saw wires. '_Who could've...?_' He got distracted by Dash's worried face and started playing with him again. Eventually, the bug was forgotten.

_**End Flashback**_

"You were the ones that sent the bug." Shadow glared.

"We needed to test our newest technology." The commander said matter of factly.

"And the mission is really..." The commander interrupted Shadow.

"About the kit. He would make an excellent addition to G.U.N. and..." This time Shadow interrupted.

"NO! He won't be someone you order around!" Shadow growled.

"I believe there isn't an option. But I do have a deal for you." Shadow didn't like where this was going but listened, "The kit is no good to us as a baby. When he's older, we will train him and become a permanent G.U.N. operative. You can care for him until that time."

"I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU...!" Shadow's rage was interrupted.

"If you don't take this deal, then I'll gladly take him off your hands now."

"I thought he was no good to you as a baby." Shadow was fuming.

"He isn't, but that doesn't mean we can't put him in suspended animation until he ages now can we?" He grinned.

Shadow was again haunted by the thought of Dash in a tube full of water. Asleep and unable to move freely, smile, or laugh.

"All I need to do is call my soldiers and tell them to take him from your little friends there. They don't seem tough. After that, you won't see him again, at least, not until he is fully trained. Then, I might just partner both of you up," The commander began walking around the room. "He'll have no memories of you and you'll slowly eat yourself alive at having someone you care about so close to you, yet only sees you as a temporary partner."

"I'll break him out of any prison you put him in." Shadow said menacingly.

"But will you be able to find him to do so?" The commander lifted his communicator, "Get the kit."

In the screen, the soldiers surrounded the happy friends. Big held Dash close and Froggie put a defensive position. Dash's eyes held a ferocious glare, but faltered by a hint of fear within them. Shadow felt himself boil over in anger as soldiers stepped up to Big and grabbed the kit. Dash tried to put up a fight, but a soldier grabbed the scruff of his neck making him go limp. Then he was transported into a small cage where Dash stretched his arm out through the gap, trying to reach Big and Froggie. It almost seemed like he was trying to see if they were ok. Shadow felt chaos energy surrounding him when he saw a needle with clear fluid aiming at the kit's grasped arm. Full blown panic was on Dash's face as he tried to pull away.

"Enough! I'll take the deal." Shadow knew what they were capable at the moment and couldn't risk it, '_At least until I can find a way out._'

The commander lifted up his communicator again, "Give them back the kit. Project: Shadow has agreed to our terms."

"You still blame me for Maria, don't you?" Shadow asked out of the blue.

The commander stayed silent for a bit, "You can leave," he spat, "We'll be watching you and the kit, so don't run."

When Shadow reached the door he punched it so hard, it not only left a huge dent, but the door was no longer recognizable as a door. In fact, it flew off and broke into the next three walls. Saying Shadow was pissed off would be an understatement. He ran to the furthest mountain range.

"CHAOS BLAST!" Shadow had accumulated so much chaos energy, he could no longer hold it in, '_I haven't felt like this since Maria's death..._' The mountains became rubble and a new flat plain was created. '_I need to get back to Dash._' He broke the sound barrier in seconds and found Big.

"Shadow! There you are!" Big jumped up right worried, "These creeps surrounded us and..."

"I know. It was a trick." Shadow reached out for Dash and barely brushed his quills. This caused Dash to flinch and try to hide in Big's fur, "It's me." Shadow soothed. Upon hearing his fathers voice, Dash looked up and literally tried to jump into his arms. The kit was clearly shaken by the events. Shadow held him close and felt his son still shaking. "Don't worry, It's over now. They won't get near you while I'm around." Shadow cooed.

'_Why am I so scared? Things like these never phase me, so why am I shaking?_' The kit wondered, '_It was probably the sight of the needle._' When Shadow looked up, Big and Froggie were gone, '_Guess they wanted to leave us alone._' He looked down to Dash and saw him trying to hide in his white chest fur, '_He's going to have nightmares tonight._'

As they headed home, everything was eerily quiet.

'_I wonder if something will put Shadow in a better mood_' Dash wondered.

Shadow then got an unexpected surprise.

"Dada?" Dash spoke his first word softly, '_Maybe this will get him in a better mood?_'

Shadow stopped and looked at his son. He was at a loss for words.

The kit smiled, "DADA!"

Shadow actually smiled and held the kit closer, "How about I add a little bit of chocolate to your bottle today?" '_I'm glad his first word wasn't chilidog._'

The hedgie clapped and they entered their home.

_**Eggman's base**_

"Doctor! G.U.N. operatives have found out about the kit! They want to take him and train him!" Bocoe allerted.

Eggman paused and went into deep thought. A sense of realization hit him and he grinned, "This makes things better! This is great addition to my plan!" He wrote something down, "Perfect. I couldn't even planned it better myself."

Decoe whispered, "I think the doctor has lost his marbles. I can't piece together his plan."

"15%" The doctor told himself, "Just have to be patient."

**Sonic: ... You sure tease a lot of people with the Eggman bits.**

**Shadow: and for a person who says she has wirters block, you sure update pretty fast.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: *Shrugs* I try to think ahead. Besides, I had to rewrite certain sections to get them just right! But anywho, Thank you for reading and for the reviews! I love reading them! :D AND! Thank you for the favorites and follows! Highly appreciate it! Let me know what you think? Likes/Dislikes. Favorite parts. Anything is appreciated. :) Well, until next time! SAYONARA! **


	8. Promises and Determinations

**SuperSonicSpeed: *Wakes up with a gasp***

**Sonic: Bad dream?**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Y-yeah...**

**Shadow: About?**

**SuperSonicSpeed: I saw... barrels and barrels of...**

**Shadow: Out with it already!**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Of tomatoes...**

**Shadow: *face palm***

**Sonic: Um, hate to break it to you but that wasn't a dream.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: WHAT!?**

**Shadow: It's true. There's a whole bunch of them out there and some people too!**

**SuperSonicSpeed: oh... um... *Tomato hits the window* START THE STORY!**

**Sonic: What about the Disclaimer!? *more tomatoes***

**SuperSonicSpeed: MAKE IT SNAPPY!**

**Shadow: She... Owns...**

**Sonic and SuperSonicSpeed: SHADOW!**

**Shadow: *grins* You're gonna make me start over *Window breaks and tomato hits him* She owns nothing. Now, which one of you readers threw that? Hm?! Also, SuperSonicSpeed has written a bit of an authours note in the end. It's in caps, so it's hard to miss.**

**_A few days later_**

A knock was heard at the door. '_Who could that be?_' Shadow walked over to the door cautiously as he held the baby close.

'_Man! Ever since the G.U.N. incident, I can't get a break._' Sonic had been in Shadows arms practically 24/7, '_Never thought he would be the paranoid type._'

Shadow looked through the peek hole and saw Knuckles, Tails, Silver, and a pink hedg... '_Oh no..._'

"We know you're there! Open up!" Amy yelled.

Dash flinched and looked at his dad, '_For once, don't open the door._' Dash had recently discovered the power of the puppy dog eyes. So far, he's made Shadow put more chocolate in his bottle, longer T.V. time, and more toys. Shadow learned an important lesson that day, never go to the toy store with a kit. Unless you like flies in your wallet.

Shadow ignored the kit's eyes this time and opened the door. One second he has the kit, the next a pink flash and the kit is gone.

"What?! Where?" Amy was sitting on the couch holding Dash in a close to death grip. Shadow was annoyed, '_Next time ask._'

"Long time no see stranger!" Knuckles said as he entered with Tails. Shadow didn't see Sonic though, '_Still missing?_'

"Hey Shadow! Just thought we would pass by to see if the kit was still alive." Silver smiled at Shadow.

As they all settled down Shadow began the conversation, "I see you havn't found Sonic."

Tails looked down and Knuckles put a hand on his shoulder for support.

"He'll come back Tails!" Amy tried to lighten up the mood, "He's Sonic!"

"I know Amy, but wouldn't we have heard something?" Tails's voice was low and sad. This caught the Kit's attention.

'_Don't be sad Tails! I'm here! I-_' The kit was raised up to the air, '_HEY! Put me down!_' He started to squirm and Amy hugged him again to stop the squirming.

"We'll find him. Don't worry." Knuckles said

"But we've searched all of Eggman's bases and nothing is there. We couldn't even find him! For all we know, Eggman captured him!" Tails was on the verge of tears, "I showed you what he went up against Knuckles!"

This caught Shadow's attention, "What do you mean?"

"Tails found a piece of metal that we believe is Eggman's newest invention." Knuckles took out the small piece and put it on the floor. Everyone jumped when he punched it as hard as he could and were surprised that the piece barely even dent.

"If it took that much for knuckles to do that to the little piece, I wonder how Sonic managed to destroy the thing." Silver was awe struck.

'_It was not fun... My back was sore in the end thanks to the repetitive homing attacks. It just wouldn't go down! Good thing it was just one robot made with that metal and not an army._' Sonic remembered.

"That's why we need to find Eggman!" Tails exclaimed, "What if he's building an army and tests them on Sonic!"

"I doubt Eggman would do that." Shadow replied, '_I'm pretty sure he would use water in his tortures anyways..._'

"We'll hope you're right. You have worked for Eggman before anyway." Knuckles teased.

"Don't remind me." Shadow closed his eyes.

"Dada?" Everyone looked up shocked.

"He can talk!?"

"Just a few words. That one was his first one." Shadow felt a sense of pride hearing Dash say dada. When he open his eyes, he saw Dash was trying to get away from Amy.

"I would put him down if I were you." Shadow advized.

"No way! He has to get used to his mommy!" Amy held the kit.

Shadow stared blankly, "What?"

"We thought you wouldn't get attached so we thought that as soon as Amy came, she could take over." Silver answered.

'_IS EVERYONE TRYING TO TAKE DASH AWAY!_' Shadow wanted to scream, "That won't be necessary. I can handle it."

"Alright!" Knuckles looked at Amy, "Sorry Amy, but it looks like Shadow has this covered."

Amy sighed, "Oh well." She put the kit down and he started to crawl. When he was close to Shadow, he tried to stand up.

'_Is he... Is he trying to walk?!_' Forgetting that there was company, Shadow got down on one knee and waited with open arms, fatherly instincts kicking in full blast, "You can do it Dash."

'_I know I can! Besides, your carpet is waaaay to rough on my knees and hands!_' Dash took a step forward and progressed to his father. When he reached the halfway point, he stumbled and fell. '_Not gonna give up!_' He got up again and continued his challenge.

'_That's right son. Don't ever give up._' Shadow was insanely proud when Dash walked right into his arms. He hugged him tight and lifted him up, "I'm very proud of you." He whispered.

"AWWW!" Shadow was abruptly reminded that there were people in the room. He gave a slight cough and sat down, "SO, what's your next plan of action for Sonic? Didn't the Master Emerald find him?"

Knuckles shook his head, "No. It was really strange. It's like he dissapeared from the face of the earth."

'_Interesting..._' Shadow began to ponder.

"Well, there's no reason for us to stay any longer. Shadow's keeping the kit and we still need to find Sonic and Eggman." Knuckles stood up, "We'll se you later."

As Knuckles was about to open the door, Rouge opened it and slammed him right in the face, "SHADOW!"

"Yeah. Don't worry about me. I'm just fine." Knuckles sarcastically said as he held his nose.

"Oh suck it up Knucky, this is more important." Rouge turned to Shadow, "You can't let the commander go through his plan! You remember the training G.U.N. put you through! You really want Dash to suffer through it as well." Dash began to whimper and hug Shadow tightly.

'_I guess he's still traumatized._' Shadow was sad. He didn't want his son to suffer.

"Wait! WHAT!?" The 4 other guests exclaimed.

"You can't be serious Shadow!" Silver exclaimed.

"I-" Shadow was interupeted.

"G.U.N. will kill the kit!" Knuckles yelled.

"Are you insane! What kind of father are you to-" Amy screamed.

Shadow intervened with an angry tone, "WILL YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTHS FOR A SECOND AND LISTEN!" Everyone stayed quiet, "G.U.N.," Shadow noticed a mosquito fly in the corner, '_Talk about bad timing..._' He cleared his throat, "The commander and I made a deal. What happens between me, G.U.N., and especially the kit, is none of your concern."

"But we trusted you..." Tails sounded broken hearted.

'_Oh great..._' Shadow was already waiting for water works, but instead, recieved dumbfounded stares. When Shadow looked down, Dash's eyes were redder and angry. His hold was still firm on his father as if he was daring them to try to take him away.

A sudden laugh broke the silence, "I see you taught Dash your famous glare. Too bad his emerald eyes are being overtaken by the ruby. Now you two will really look like father and son." Rouge eased everyones minds, "We'll leave you alone. I'm sure you have a full day planned with Dash." Everyone left and Rouge stopped at the front door, "Be careful. You don't want G.U.N. to take away the one person that's making you happy right now."

Shadow knodded and Rouge left after giving him a wink. He rolled his eyes as Dash started laughing. Shadow smirked, "Don't even think about it."

'_What!? I didn't think of it first!?_' Dash smiled.

"She does that to everyone, besides, I think she's after the echidna." Shadow smiled.

'_That explains a lot actually._' Dash laughed.

Shadow sat back down, '_How am I going to keep him away from G.U.N.._' Shadow's stress was not at a good level and that's putting it lightly. He switched Dash to one arm and covered his eyes with his other. He felt a tear escape his eyes but hid it from Dash, '_First Maria and now..._'

"Dada?" Dash began to pet Shadow's hand. Then he was lifted into a tight hug.

"I promise. Nothing will harm you." Shadow whispered low, "I promise."

'_I trust you... father._' Dash hugged him tighter.

That night Dash couldn't sleep, '_What's wrong with me? I'm SONIC THE HEDGEHOG! Not Dash... So why do I suddenly feel like my dependence is completely on Shadow? Why!? It's like my real identity is slowly being smothered away by this new one._' He sighed, '_What am I going to do when I grow up?_' Sonic suddenly felt pain in his head, '_It's hurting worse than before!_' He grabbed his head and waited for the pain to subside.

Shadow noticed this and picked him up, '_His eyes are closed, must be a nightmare._'

The last thing Dash could remember, was Shadow rocking him back and forth in the moonlight.

**_A few years later_**

"How many times have I told you to..."

"not run in the house? A lot."

Shadow sighed, "You were a lot easier to take care of before you walked."

"Oh c'mon dad! It's not like I destroyed everything." Dash, now a 9 year old, simply rolled his eyes just like his father. He was even standing with his arms crossed.

"Don't give me that," Shadow pulled his ear.

"OW! I use these to listen you know!" Dash cried out.

"Oh really? Then why exactly haven't you been listening to me?" Shadow asked.

Dash didn't know what to say except one thing that always works, "You're... r-r-...r..."

"I'm listening." Shadow flicked one ear towards his son.

Dash sighed in defeat, "You're right dad."

"Always am son."

"What about that one time you said those berries were edible and you ended up running to the bathroom and..." Shadow interupted Dash.

"We don't need to remember that incident now do we." Shadow gave him the if you continue you know what's coming eyes.

"Alright alright," Dash raised his arms, "Where are we going," Dash slowed down after his father jumped over something, "anyways?"

A huge river was in between him and Shadow, '_I need to see something._' Shadow observed.

Dash ran to the edge and dipped a finger, then he smiled. "It's perfect!" Dash jumped in and swam around like it was nothing, '_But why does part of me fear it?_' He jumped out and shook himself dry. He felt a pat on his head but Shadow said nothing, '_It's just a bit further ahead._' Tails's workshop came to view, but before he could say anything, Dash had already gone to knock.

Tails opened the door and seemed very tired, "Hey Dash. How are you?" he smiled.

"Hi uncle Tails!" Dash hugged him, "Where's uncle Knuckles."

"Still in Angel Island. You know him." Tails laughed.

"Nice to know you finally open the door whenever we knock." Shadow came to view.

"9 years does that to a person." Tails moved aside, "Come on in. I have hot coffee and hot chocolate waiting."

"YAY! CHOCOLATE!" Dash was about to run in, but Shadow held him back and gave him a slight glare.

"Oh! Right!" Dash looked at Tails, "Thank you uncle Tails!" Then walked in.

"Someones hyper." Tails giggled.

"And it's slowly driving me insane." Shadow moaned.

"Well, you did spoil him." Tails replied.

"Did not." Shadow defended himself.

"Oh really? I've noticed you haven't been able to resist the puppy dog eyes he does." Tails grinned.

"Uncle Tails, can I have more marshmallows?" Dash made his cutest eyes.

"Um, we ran out but," Tails tried not to look at his eyes, "I guess," the eyes were too cute to ignore, "I can go out to buy some!"

Shadow stopped him, "No Dash. Those are enough marshmallows in your chocolate." Dash's lip began to quiver, "No way! I'm not falling for that."

Eventually, Dash gave up, "Ok daddy." He used his low upset voice, "I'll just go back inside."

"Now was that so h-" Tails stared at Shadow, "Where did you get thos marshmallows?"

"YOU found them in the cupboard, end of story." Shadow walked in and Tails couldn't help but laugh.

As Tails and Shadow chatted a bit, Dash noticed a picture, "Hey uncle, whose this?" He brought the picture for the adults to see.

Tails's eyes saddened, "That was my closest friend and brother. Today is the 9th year anniversary of his dissappearance."

"What was he-" Shadow interupted Dash.

"That's enough Dash."

"It's ok." Tails gave a sad smile, "He went to fight off an army of robots and then suddenly dissapeared. That's when I found-" Tails noticed Shadow shaking head and telling him to stop.

"That's when you found what?" Dash asked carefully.

"That's where I found... a... um..." Tails began fidget.

"That's when he found the piece of metal I've been studying son." He took out the piece and gave it back to Tails, "It's truly remarkable and very rare. I've never seen anything like it. Looks like Eggman really knew what he was doing too. This fragment has something close to genetic coding, but whenever I try to adapt it..." Tails continued Shadow's sentence.

"To an organic substance, it refuses to combine. I've tried to change the coding so it would fuse but, I had no luck."

"I'm lost." Dash didn't want to hear about any more science, "How about Chili Dogs!?"

"Funny you should metion that." Tails stood up and took out something, "I have a plate full right here."

They all began to eat while a certain mosquito spied.

**_At G.U.N. headquarters_**

"Sir! Shadow has ignored our petitions for the kit. What is our course of action." asked a soldier.

"You'll see soldier. You'll see."

_**Eggman's Base**_

"80%. Damn that hedgehog... and his little friends."

_Flashback_

"It's over Eggman! Now give us Sonic back!" Knuckles yelled.

"He's not here." The doctor sounded bored.

"Liar!" Tails yelled.

"Tell me, did you see that hedgehog anywhere while you came?" Eggman turned to his computer and showed his camera images, "All the cameras show no sign of that pain on my side. Not even in the dungeons where I would put him."

"Where is he then?" Shadow asked.

"Oh, Shadow. Before I forget, congrats on the kit. As for Sonic, I really don't know." Eggman shrugged.

"Chaos Spear!"

"My computer!" Eggman roared.

"That's incase you have any little plans." Shadow began to walk away.

"What about Sonic!?" Tails cried out.

"I can't sense his chaos energy so there's no point being here." Shadow dissapeared as the rest destroyed most of the new base.

_End flashback_

"My plans slowed down dramatically thanks to you Shadow. But In just a matter of time, everything will be complete." He laughed evilly, "Soon. Very soon."

**SuperSonicSpeed: And that's it for today. :) I thin the next chapter will have some interesting things.**

**Sonic: What's Eggman up to!?**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Time will tell. Speaking about time, um... Sadly, I won't be able to update as fast as I usually do. I ended up getting a curve ball in life and well, it's interfering majorly. BUT DON'T WORRY! THERE WILL ALWAYS BE UPDATES AND I PROMISE! THIS STORY WILL REACH ITS ENDING! So don't give up on the story pwease! I always read your comments/reviews and it just makes me insanely happy to see people liking the story. So, you know I will keep my promise so long as there's someone who continues to read it. Thank you again for favoriting, following, and reviewing!**

**Shadow: You make it sound like a goodbye**

**SuperSonicSpeed: No I don't! I made a promise!**

**Shadow: How long will it take you to update.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: I'm not sure to be honest. Hehe! But the latest would be once every two weeks. I will try to finish earlier than that to keep things going. :)**

**Sonic: Sounds good to me! What about you readers? What do you think? What are the eggs for? Don't forget to review!**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Till next time everyone! DUCK!**


	9. Taken

**SuperSonicSpeed: *Wipes off the tomato and egg***

**Sonic: That was fun.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Yep.**

**Shadow: Speak for yourself faker.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Hey! You're not covered in tomato and egg!**

**Shadow: It's called a chaos shield.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: And you didn't let us in?!**

**Shadow: I thought you two looked funny trying to dodge the rain of eggs and tomato.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: ...I own none of the characters *Picks up a tomato and egg***

**Sonic: *Does the same* Oh Shads.**

**Shadow: Chaos Control!**

**SuperSonicSpeed and Sonic: CHEATER! Oh! One more thing! There are a lot of scene changes so hopefully it won't be too confusing. Enjoy!**

'_That took longer than I expected._' Shadow carried Dash bridal style as he made his way home from Tails's house. Shadow had become more open thanks to Dash. He was also able to speak a bit more freely but was still, and probably always will be, the serious type. He abruptly stopped when Dash started talking in his sleep,

"N-no... My head... Pain... No more. Please!" Dash started to curl up in Shadow's arms.

Shadow quickly put him down, "Dash, son wake up!" He took out a small bottle and a water bottle, "DASH!"

His eyes flew open, "D-dad?" He grabbed his head again.

"It's ok. Here," He showed him a pill, "Take this. It'll help ease the pain in your head."

Dash knodded and took the pill, '_These things never work. But I don't want to worry him._'

"Better?"

"Yeah. Thanks dad." He stood up, "Where are we?"

"In the forest. You fell asleep on the couch so I decided to carry you home." Shadow continued walking, Dash trailing right behind him.

'_This place looks... familiar._' Dash stopped in front of a tree, '_Like I've been here before._'

"Something wrong?" Shadow looked serious.

"No. Just a dejavu moment. That's all." Dash ran right next to his father and smiled.

'_He's not telling me something._' Shadow sighed, "Let's hurry, it's getting late."

As they made it home, Dash walked quickly upstairs and started getting ready for bed. Shadow went to the living room and noticed a red envelope on the living room table. '_They just can't take no for an answer can they?_' He growled.

Shadow opened it to read it,

**_Project: Shadow,_**

**_You are in possession of G.U.N. property. This is your last warning to hand over the kit willingly. If you fail to comply within 12 hours, force will be our alternative option._**

**_From, G.U.N. Commander_**

Shadow was furious and tore the paper apart, '_How DARE they call Dash property!_'

"Dad? You ok?" Dash was always scared when Shadow got this mad.

"It's nothing." Shadow tried his best to regain his composure, but Dash knew better, "I'll tuck you in, in a minute."

Dash nodded and did as he was told.

'_We have to run... I can't take them on alone and protect Dash at the same time... Even if they hunt us down, I won't give him up!_' Shadow clenched his fists, "The only way they'll get him is over my dead body." Shadow imediatly took a defensive position when he heard something outside. He looked out the window only to see squirels digging up the last of their acorns. He locked all the doors and windows when he started having a coughing fit, '_I can't be getting sick..._' He started noticing a fog like cloud start to form in the living room.

"Who are you!? Wait! AAAH!" screamed a voice.

"DASH!" Shadow began to make his way upstairs but started to feel weaker, '_Paralysis gas. Damn them..._' He opened the door to see soldiers holding his son.

"NO!" Adrenaline kicked in and he started fighting them off. "GET OUT!" He swiftly kicked the soldiers, who were protecting the one that had Dash, away. But more and more soldiers poured in. '_An ambush! Just like... The ark..._' His eyes widened and was punched on his side. He quickly snapped out of it and began punching and using homing attacks. That's when he heard a chopper coming closer and closer. Panic hit him and he was desperately trying to fight them all off. Shots began to ring and he dodged as many as he could. He saw from the window the soldiers were covering, that the chopper had landed and was being given a struggling bundle.

"DADDY! HELP ME!" Dash's cuffed hands stretched out to the house. Tears evident in his eyes.

"DASH!" Shadow saw how far he was, "CHAOS BLAST!" A part of the house dissapeared while soldiers flew back due to the blast.

"DAD!" The commander covered Dash's mouth and nose with a cloth that had a funny smell to it.

Dash's eyes began to droop, "Da... Da... Dad...dy..." he knocked out in the commanders arms and the chopper flew high above.

Shadow began trailing the chopper as soon as the gaurds stopped coming after him but started losing sight of it when he entered the thick forest. '_I need to get to higher ground!_' Shadow ran up a tree but the chopper was no longer there. Not even a sound, '_Cloaking device..._' Shadow needed a moment to process what had just happened.

"Why," he mumbled, "Why do I always have everything I care about taken away from me!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. He began heading to G.U.N.'s base, chaos energy revolving around him.

**At G.U.N Headquarters**

Dash was put in suspended animation as scientist studied him. The commander stared at the hedgehog with victory in his eyes. '_He'll make a perfect soldier._'

"Sir!" A scientist stepped in, "By the looks of things, he can also absorb several quantities of chaos energy. We also believe he is fully capable of high speeds."

"Excellent, his training will start tomorrow." The commander began walking away, "Put him in a cell until then." A crash was heard and everyone turned around.

**With Shadow**

"He better be safe in there!" Shadow blasted through the front door. Anger fueled his speed and he ran dirctly to the cells.

'They're all empty. Which means!' He skated towards the scientists building and blasted the door open. His eyes widened at what he saw, '_No... This can't be..._'

No one was there. The G.U.N. base was abandoned. Shadow punched the nearest desk as hard as he could, splitting it in half and making a huge hole on the ground. 'This isn't happening. It can't be.' he skated out and began hunting any other base G.U.N. had, destroying them in the process. Eventually, he found one soldier. He intercepted him ang grabbed the soldiers collar.

"Where... is... Dash." Shadow said through gritted teeth.

"Who?" The soldier was paniking.

Shadow slammed him as hard as possible against a concrete wall, "My son. The kit. Your commander wanted him. Is any of this ringing any bells?" His hand started to glow, "Or am I going to have to revert back to what I used to be and do things the hard way?" Shadows voice was calm, but laced with the most menacing tone anyone could think of.

"I-I-I D-Don't," He was slammed again against the wall, "The commander didn't tell us anything! He only took a few soldiers and headed out to a secluded place! That's all I know! I swear! He never trusts us with important information like this." He was thrown to the floor and Shadow left. The last thing the soldier heard were screams and a chaos blast being called.

**G.U.N. Headquarters**

The commander turned around and saw a flask completely shattered releasing a nasty smelling acid. The commander rolled his eyes and left the scientists to finish their work.

Morning rose and Dash was starting to wake up, "My head... Dad?" No answer came and Dash's eyes widened, "Dad!" He stood up quickly, but fell down thanks to the dizzy spell. He studied his surroundings and noticed the metal bars surrounding him. Dash held his head. '_My head feels numb..._' He started to tear up, "I wanna go home."

"This is your home. Your new home."

Dash looked up to see the tall commander standing infront of him with a smirk on his face.

"HEY! You're that mean guy from t.v.!" Dash pointed at him, "You were after father when he was younger!"

The commanders smirk dissapeared and he he pressed a button. Dash's eyes shrunk as he felt shock throughout his body. He fell to his knees and hands panting.

"Your name will no longer be Dash. You will be Project: Speed."

"NO WAY! That name blows!" Dash felt a shock throughout his body.

"Your training starts today. Now get up. If you try to run away, that collar will tighten until you can no longer breathe." The commander opened the cell.

Dash got up slowly, looking down, and ears folded back, '_Please find me dad..._'

Dash was pushed into a dark room and the door was shut and sealed.

"Let me out!" The light automatically came on and he noticed he was surrounded by robots. Each robot, had a gun pointed at him. Dash's eyes widened and he quickly jumped out of the way, '_Good thing dad taught me a few tricks._' He quickly did a homing attack and destroyed one of the taller robots. The commander was pleased by this, '_It looks like Project: Shadow has taught him a few moves._' He pressed a button and lasers began shooting out. Dash evaded them with his speed like a total expert. It was practically natural to him. When the last lasers were finished, the floor under Dash's feet collapsed and he fell into the water. He felt something pulling him down, '_I can't breathe!_' Dash was close to passing out when the thing that was holding him released him and he gently floated to the top.

The commander stepped over and picked him up by the scruff, "You need a lot more training."

"Leave me alone!" Dash gave a fierce glare which earned him a shock.

"Don't tell me we need to break you Project: Speed."

Dash folded his ears back, hating the name, "Why?" he said weakly, "Why are you doing this?"

"Simple," he walked back to Dash's cell where a small not so great meal waited for him, "Because I can." He closed the cell and left to prepare the next training ground.

**With Shadow**

"Echidna!" Shadow yelled.

"Wah!" Knuckles was abruptly awakened, "Long time no see!" He stretched and then smiled. But when he saw Shadow's face, he became serious, "What's wrong?"

"They took Dash..." Shadow clenched his fists, "I can't find them."

"I'll check if the emerald can find him." Knuckles began to chant.

Shadow took out his comunicator, "Rouge!"

A few minutes passed, "Geez. You wanna yell any louder?" A yawn, "What's up?"

"Dash was taken, I need your help finding him. Have you heard any rumors around the G.U.N. base?"

"What!? No. But that doesn't mean a little spying won't help. I'll let you know if I find something. Later!"

"I can't find him. Everytime I think I'm near him, the emerald blanks out." Knuckles sighed, "Wait! Why not ask Tails to hack into G.U.N.'s main frame? Maybe there's some info there."

Shadow nodded and rushed to the workshop. As soon as he arrived he slammed the door down.

"Fox!" Shadow ran into the main computer room where he saw a startled Tails with coffee all over the floor.

"Shadow? What is it? Where's Dash?" Tails listened to Shadow's story and couldn't believe it, "I'll need some time and your help. G.U.N.'s computers arn't exactly the easiest to hack." Shadow agreed and got to work on another computer, 'We'll find you.'

**At G.U.N. Base**

Dash had undergone some ferosious training, '_That creep just won't let up..._' There was no light in the cells, only darkness, '_A window would be nice..._' He curled up in the small blanket he was given, '_Never take the things you have for granted.'_ Shadow's voice rang through his head._ 'Now I know what father meant._' The blanket was full of holes and was barely warm. He wanted to run free! Not be stuck in the cell waiting for psyco commander to come in with a new training ground. He had a few bruises from the last fight and a few minor cuts. But Dash knew that the worse was yet to come. '_I wonder what dad is doing,_' Sleep was slowly taking him, '_I wonder if I'll ever get out of here._' His eyes closed, '_But for now, I have to stay strong like dad and never show my fear._'

**In Dash's dream**

"What's going on?" He looked around surprised, "The hills, the lakes, the trees, and the animals. It's all metal." He placed a hand on the grass and felt the smooth but cold surrounding. "I don't understand." His head started to hurt, "Get me out of here!"

**Dream End**

Dash woke up gasping and with a headache. A click was heard, '_Oh great, he's here..._'

"Get up! It's time to start." The commander said impatiently.

"Have you ever heard of patience!?" Dash snapped, "Honestly! I can't even..." He felt a stronger shock throught his body.

"Everytime you disobey or back talk, I will increase the number on the shock collar, understand?"

"Whatever!" Another shock, "I'm... N-NOT..." The commander increased the number closest to maximum. Dash gave in, "Yes sir..."

"That'll do for now. Follow me."

'_I don't wanna break! I don't wanna follow! I just want my freedom back!_' Dash felt a tear in his eye as his next training ground lit up. He was furious and took a stance. 50 robots appeared this time, but none of them stood a chance with his anger. Dash's hand began to glow, "Chaos Spear!" A weaker version of Shadow's well known attack, but still very lethal.

In the obervation deck the commander stood with a grin, "I think we should test his ability to absorb chaos energy, don't you think?" A scientist nodded and pressed a button. An emerald appeared and Dash automatically felt the energy fueling him. He looked up at the commander, "Chaos Spear!" The spears were perfectly aimed, but he never realized a shield gaurded the commander and scientists. The spears were deflected back suprising Dash. He narrowly dodged them, but one hit his arm and the other, his leg. He hissed in pain and glared when he looked back up.

"You really think I would let my gaurd down so easily?" The commander chuckled. A shock erupted from Dash's collar making him fall to his knee.

'_I'm really getting tired of this..._' Dash stood up but the floor began to crack, '_NOT AGAIN!_' He started running to the furthest corner of the room that seemed to stay stable. As soon as he did, 8 tentacles erupted from the water. "That can't be good!" Dash jumped and moved around on the small corner trying to avoid the attacks. A tentacle grabbed his leg and he acted on instinct, "CHAOS SPEAR!" The monters roared in pain and went down under the water. Dash sighed in relief, but it wasn't over. The monster used it's 8 tentacles to destroy the only flat surface there. Dash flew up and was going straight to the water. He began to thrash and panic as soon as he was submurged. He felt an arm wrap around him and drag him down, '_Not this time._' Dash bit the arm as hard as he could and began swimming away as soon as the arm loosened its grip. When he made it to the door of the training ground, he was lifted up by the scruff, '_Great... A welcome committee._'

"You're getting better. But other methods are going to be necessary for you."

Dash's eyes widened when they headed straight to the scientists room and infront of a tube filled with water, '_Anywhere but there!_' He started tearing up when the wires were being connected to him.

2 weeks passed, and the training only got more intense. Dash's speed and strength had increased greatly and his smiles had become rarer. Almost like if he were broken.

"It seems that he's ready." A scientist obsereved.

"Yes. I expect top performances from him in all his future missions." The commander happily agreed.

Dash destroyed the last robot with a very lethal spin dash and landed on his feet, then looked up at the commander awaiting more orders.

"You've improved greatly. I'm impressed." He stepped down to Dash, "Especially with such a short amount of time."

Dash stayed silent, '_I bet dad wouldn't be too happy of what I'm doing..._'

"Your first mission is simple. We are exporting a dangerous item to another sector and you will fend off anyone who comes near it. Understand?"

Dash stood in salute position, "Yes sir!"

"Good." The commander was about to walk off when he stopped, "One more thing. If Project: Shadow, Tails, Knuckles, or anyone you once knew tries to stop you and you don't fight back. Well, I don't need to explain myself do I?" He left through the double doors.

Once he was gone and no one was around, Dash punched the robot leftovers, '_You'll experiment on them, just like you did to me..._' He teared up at the memmories. '_Half the time, I wasn't even awake. But I could still feel each effect of the experiments..._'

"Project: Speed! Report to the gate to begin your mission."

Dash wiped his tears and ran to the gate to be greeted by the soldiers with their secret weapon already inside a vehicle.

**With Shadow**

Shadow slammed the keyboard and broke it to pieces.

"HEY! We'll find him! I know we will!" Tails said determined.

"We've been at this for days! All the codes were changed and who knows," Shadow looked down and stayed quiet for a minute. "What he's done with Dash for his supposed "training"..."

Tails stood up and put a conforting hand on Shadow's shoulder, "I know you're worried, but we all know that eventually G.U.N. will slip up and reveal where they are."

"I hope you're right."

**With Eggman**

"Well, it seems the commander finally made a move with Sonic. Or how he likes to call him, Project: Speed. Seems like a total rip off name if you ask me." He looked at his computer, "98%. Looks like my time to raise Eggmanland is just within my grasp." He stood up pressed a button, "Bokkun! Deliver the message to Shadow. I think it's time he knew Dash's whereabouts, don't you think."

"You got it!" Bokkun agreed happily.

'_Meanwhile, I'll observe how things play out._' Eggman left to his hovercraft and headed to the immediate area.

**With Shadow**

Bokkun appeared with his little t.v. infront of Shadow, "I have a message for you!"

"I don't have time for your silly surprise messages." Shadow stepped around him and headed to the front door.

"Too bad! This one was about Dash, but since you don't wanna hear it-"

"Show me the message! And if this is a trick, well, I hope you know how to hide." Shadow glared daggers at Bokkun as Eggman appeared on thr screen.

"Hello Shadow!" Eggman leaned back, "I heard you were having trouble with G.U.N. so I decided to help."

"What's the catch?" Shadow asked.

"Oh you know me too well. It's simple really, I tell you where your son is in exchange for the emerald y-"

"Deal. Now tell me where he is."

"Give the emerald to Bokkun and then I'll tell you."

"How about, tell me where he is, I chaos control over there, and then I'll hand it over."

"How do I know you'll hand over the emerald." Eggman asked suspiciously.

"Because I don't mess around like a certain doctor I know."

"Fine... They're heading towards the island with the destroyed G.U.N. base. They're in a vehicle right now but will soon be boarding a boat in a nearby pier."

Shadow grabbed Bokkuns arm, "Chao-"

"Wait!" Tails ran in, "How do we know this isn't a trap?"

"Only one way to find out." Eggman smirked as he played with his mustache.

"Chaos Control!"

**With Dash**

Dash ran behind them to keep up his gaurd duty, '_Everything seems normal._' He noticed a light ahead and his eyes widened, '_DAD!_' Then the G.U.N. commander's words popped into his head, '_I don't... I don't want to fight him!_'

The soldiers noticed Dash slowly slowing down, "Hey kid! Pick up the pace!" When they turned around, Shadow, Tails, and Bokkun were right infront of them.

"What are you waiting for!?" The commander yelled through Dash's ear piece. Dash then felt an all too familiar shock go through his body. This didn't go unnoticed by Shadow, "What are you doing to him!?" Shadow through the emerald at Bokkun and ran towards the vehicle and was a few inches awy from punching it, when he felt something push him to the floor. His eyes widened when he saw Dash, "GO!"

The G.U.N. soldiers nodded and started heading for the boat that was still a few miles away.

"Don't hold back." The commander hissed, "Or else."

Dash took a fighting stance, '_Sorry dad..._' He fought his tears, '_But this is probably for the best..._'

"Dash..." Shadow took a step forward but stopped when he saw the collar, '_That sick..._' Anger swelled up inside him, "I don't know what they did or told you, but I can tell you now that nothing will happen." He took another step forward, "The commanders threats are empty words and to be honest, a glare doesn't suit you well."

Dash stayed still, '_But I..._'

"Project: Speed," The commader interupted, "We both know your father is fully capable of defending himself and I'm sure you've already thought about running. But tell me, once you and Shadow run away, who will help Tails and the others who can't defend themselves as well?"

Dash's looked down avoiding looking at Tails and whispered, "Yes sir... CHAOS SPEAR!"

Shadow barely dodged the attack. He was completely caught off gaurd! "Stop! The last thing I want to see is my son taking orders from G.U.N.!"

"That's not your decision to make, Shadow!" Dash raised his hand again getting ready for another attack.

Shadow froze, '_He said... my name...?_'

"Chaos Spear!"

**SuperSonicSpeed: And that's how it goes!**

**Sonic: You're stopping there!? On a cliffhanger! Talk about taking risks...**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Why not?**

**Shadow: Because no one like a cliffhanger.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: I couldn't resist! Next update will be within the next two weeks! Promise! OH! And yes, Dash doesn't know who he truly is. Hmmm... I'm starting to get ideas.**

**Sonic: You better keep your word!**

**SuperSonicSpeed: I will!**

**Shadow: That reminds me, *Throws a tomato to SuperSonicSpeed* That's one's from Swan7. Apparantly she missed.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: *sighs and wipes it off* Last time I ever mention Tomatoes...**

**Shadow: Also, Thanks for agreeing with me Sonadow fangirl223 in Chapter 4.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: She said it could happen!**

**Shadow: ... Hmph.**

**Sonic: AHAHAHAHA!**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Till next time folks!**


	10. Eggman's plan revealed

**SuperSonicSpeed: I'M FREE!**

**Shadow: ? What do you mean?**

**Sonic: Yeah, arn't you always a free spirit?**

**Shadow: An annoying one at that...**

**SuperSonicSpeed: HEY! Nope, just that the curveball is over! Which means I may just update a bit faster. :)**

**Sonic: AWESOME!**

**Shadow: Can we get going then?**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Well, I own nothing and here we go! ONE MORE THING!**

**SuperSonicSpeed, Shadow, and Sonic: SUPER SPEACIAL THANK YOUS! TO SWAN7 FOR THE BOOK COVER!**

**SuperSonicSpeed: I thought it was SUPER adorable! It's from Chapter 3 when Sonic wants to get a chilidog but Shadow says he's to young for those. :) THANK YOU SO MUCH! Alright, I've held everyone back long enough. Enjoy!**

**Sonic: WAIT! I DID NOT THROW THE TOMATO SWAN7! YOU OWE ME A CHILIDOG!**

**Shadow: *Grabs Sonic's ear* C'mon Faker, shows starting.**

"That's not your decision to make, Shadow!" Dash raised his hand again getting ready for another attack.

Shadow froze, '_He said... my name...?_'

"Chaos Spear!"

Shadow snapped out of the trance and made an attempt to dodge. He was hit on the right leg and he winced at the pain.

'_Sorry dad..._'

"Project: Speed! Get moving!" The commander yelled.

Dash started running and dissapeared.

'_Why would he do this?_' Shadow slowly stood up and checked his injury, '_Should heal in a few hours... How did he manage to learn that attack?_'

"Shadow!" Tails called from behind after watching the events. Shadow stayed serious and pensive.

"Why did Dash attack you?"

"I don't know..." Shadow sighed deppresingly, "I never thought this would happen..." He started heading towards Dash's direction, "But I'm going to find out why!" Shadow had determination in his eyes and started skating through leaving a dusty trail behind.

"Hey!" Tails yelled, "You Chaos Controled me here! Come back!" Tails took off flying.

**With G.U.N. Soldiers**

"Project: Speed." A soldier greeted, "You finally came. Get on the boat and lets go."

Dash boarded and avoided looking at the water, '_I hope dad's ok..._' He sighed, '_He probably hates me now..._'

The boat headed to G.U.N.'s island where their secret weapon was going to be installed.

'_I wonder what the weapon is?_' Dash closed his eyes for a few minutes to think, '_My head hasn't hurt for a while... I wonder why..._'

**With Shadow**

Shadow spotted Dash boarding the boat but arrived when the boat was too far to jump. Tails came from behind gasping for air.

"Tails, we need to follow that boat."

"Alright!" Tails pressed a button and the rockets of the tornado could be heard coming after from afar.

They both jumped on and headed toward their new destination, G.U.N. island.

**With Eggman**

"Seems I'm here too early," Eggman looked around, "I guess I should get ready for the welcoming comitee." He smirked, "AND my victory speech. HOHOHOHOHO!"

He hovered over to the center of the island clearing trees and other obstacles to make a flat surface.

**With G.U.N.**

"We need to get to the center of the island," spoke the head soldier, "There, we will hide the weapon and make sure it stays away from anyone"

"Speed, we need you to scout ahead." Another soldier said.

Dash nodded, '_Finally they didn't say project before that name..._' He sprinted towards the center noticing the flat terain, '_Funny place to hide something. Then again the best place to hide something is in the open._' He scanned the area and tried to pick up any sound. "It's clear!"

The soldiers moved out but stopped.

"This can't be right. This was supposed to be the densesed part of the forest. What happened?" A soldier spoke.

Dash turned around, "You mean it's not supposed to be plain?"

"No! I need to check with headquarters." The soldier started to communicate the commander while Dash started to wander.

'_Who would tear apart the trees and create a plain?_' Dash stopped when he heard something very familiar, '_NOT AGAIN!_' He looked up to see the Tornado right above him. '_I need to hide!_'

"Where are you going!?" The commander yelled once more, "Protect the device!"

Dash rolled his eyes and ran back. Shadow was about to hit the box with his homing attack but Dash immediately intergected with a homing attack of his own.

"You're not getting anywhere near this." Dash narrowed his eyes.

"How about you start explaining why you suddenly took their side." Shadow glared back.

"Simple, I needed a bit more adventure. Not be stuck at home..." Dash couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Is that so?" Shadow almost smirked, '_You're lying again. You know very well how much freedom you truly have._'

They clashed once more but Shadow only pretended to have trouble. Dash was still a newbie even with the training the commander put him through. Shadow was growing bored of the pointless fighting and stepped aside when Dash threw a punch. Then he grabbed both Dash's arms and put them behind his back.

"Now tell me, what did the commander tell you to act this way?"

Dash struggled, "Dad! You don't understand!" He continued to try to break free.

"Ofcourse I don't. Because you're not telling me." His grip became firmer.

"Don't say a word!" The commander screamed.

Shadow grabbed Dash's ear piece, "This is NONE of your concern!" He threw the ear piece to the floor and stepped on it, breaking it into nothing more than pieces. His attention went back to Dash, "Son," He pulled him into a hug, "Just tell me what's going on."

Dash went limp and started crying, telling him everything that happened in G.U.N. head quarters. From the place he was kept in to the experiments he went through. But the most detailed, was the training he went through. Shadow glared daggers at the soldiers that watched. When Dash finished his stories, he onlyhiccuped as he held on to his dad. Shadow's fury held no bounds but detained himself for a second, "Get on the Tornado with Tails. I need to give these soldiers a piece of my mind."

Dash nodded and ran, "Thanks dad." He flashed a smile and was about to hop on when he felt the collar tightening around his neck.

"Tails! I can't breathe!" Dash panicked.

"HOLD ON!" Tails went down and started working on the collar.

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow hit most of the soldiers and dodged bullets, '_What's in that box?_' He sprinted foward and attacked more of the soldiers. Back up arrived and he caught the sound of Dash coughing for air, '_Hurry Tails! Dash's air supply is going to be fully cut off in a few seconds._'

"I can't get it off Dash!" Tails continued to struggle as Dash started to gasp, '_Wait!_' Tails started inputting codes in the collar.

Shadow jumped in the air measuring the distance between him and Dash, "Chaos Blast!" A whole lot of soldiers were taken out with ease.

"SHADOW!" Tails yelled, "What does the commander care about most?!"

Shadow turned and saw Dash struggling. He had to think fast... "MARIA!"

"Right now is NOT the time to day dream Shadow!" Tails replied.

Shadow smacked his forhead and Chaos Controled next to Dash. He quickly input the code and the collar snapped open. Dash took a deep breath and exhaled the precious oxygen, "DAD!" He hugged him tight.

"What a cute reunion." A voice said.

Shadows eyes widened, '_The box!_' He quickly ran and opened it, only to discover nothing inside.

"Shadow, Shadow, Shadow..." Eggman tsked, "I took that weapon back when the fight happened in the desert."

"Impossible!" A soldier yelled.

"Don't believe me?" The doctor took out a small green chip, "Well here it is."

"If you have the weapon then what are you here for!?" Shadow asked aggrivated. "I've worked on this plan for 9 years. Let me enjoy the moment." Eggman said earily calmly as he leaned back on his chair. An army of swatbots came out and surrounded everyone, "Now then..." A beeping noise went off and Eggman smiled, "100%. Excellent." He turned to look at Dash who was hiding behind Shadow.

"Activate program: Robotization." As Eggman said those words, Dash fell to his knees clenching his head and screaming at the top of his lungs. Tears streamed down and there seemed to be no end to the pain.

"What's wrong Dash!?" Shadow had never seen his son in so much pain. The soldiers were also dumbfounded. Eggman laughed.

"Thanks to you Shadow, I had to wait years to finish this. Luckily, when you destroyed my computer, you didn't damage the data on the chip implanted in his brain."

Shadow's couldn't believe it, "When did you get close enough to do that!?"

"Simple, before Tails found him, I found him first. Or should I say, made him?"

"You're talking nonsense!" Shadow snapped as Dash was slowly starting to quiet down.

"Am I? Tell me, do you know of the kits past? How he got in the woods?"

Shadow pondered.

"Let me give you another hint," Eggman smirked, "How is it that the kit appears after Sonic went missing?"

Shadow stopped breathing, '_No..._'

Tails's eyes were wide, '_But the DNA test was different than Sonic's. It can't be._'

"Nice to see it's starting to sink in." Eggman smiled sinisterly.

"D-d-dad..." Dash looked up to see Shadow's look of surprise before passing out. Shadow didn't know what to do. He kept flickering between his all time rival and his son.

"Sonic, would you care to come to my side now?" Eggman gestured to his right.

"Do something Shadow!" Tails screamed. But Shadow stood there.

'_What do I do?_' Shadow was confused and torn. He felt decieved and ripped apart.

Dash's eyes were full blown rubies, his light blue streaks on his quills glowed, and he was fully out of control of his body. In other words, he became Eggman's puppet. He walked over to Eggman, not even demonstrating a fight or inner struggle.

Tails teared up as Dash stood by Eggman, "How!? He's been able to fight your mind control before! Why not this!"

"Simple really," Eggman smirled, "My rays only affected the mind but didn't alter it, so I decided to do something a little more time consuming." He looked at Shadow whose gaze seemed distant and then back at Tails, "I'm sure you've heard of robotization." Tails nodded remembering how mobians were turned into mindless robot slaves, "Good, then the explanation is simple. For me to fully control Sonic, I needed to attack from within. I installed a chip in the center of his brain that slowly roboticized his mind. Taking any form of free will there could ever be. This caused..."

Shadow interupted, "Small headaches that became massive as he aged because his mind was trying to fight it off the intrusion." His eyes were still distant.

"Exactly," Eggman replied, "His mind is fully roboticized right now and believe me when I say that by the end of the day, Sonic will be my ultimate weapon." He looked at the G.U.N. soldiers who remained quiet, "I should thank you and the commander as well for training the hedgehog. Now he'll really pack a punch. HOHOHO!"

Dash jumped on the hover craft and they both dissapeared along with the swat bots.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU DO SOMETHING!?" Tails cried at Shadow, "WHY?!" He fell to his knees, Shadow had no response as he looked at Tails, "Sonic's helped you before!" Tails sobbed, "How could you be so selfish." Tails whispered, "When it was Dash you would do anything, but if he's Sonic..." Tails trailed off in his sobs.

Shadow started walking away, he didn't know what to feel, '_That faker really knows how to get under you skin._' The words Dash said haunted him, '_Yet you still called me your father..._' Shadow sprinted away from everyone, '_What would you do, Maria?_' A tear escaped his eye but the tear was unseen, '_Is he my son or my rival?_'

Tails's emotions were mixed. He really expected more from Shadow. Would he really stoop so low as to not help his son/rival. He shook it off, "I need to see those DNA tests again..." He got on the Tornado and blasted off.

The soldiers were left alone as they called their commander to tell him about the failed mission and their new threat.

**With Tails**

"I don't understand... The DNA sequences of Dash and Sonic are completely different..." Tails rubbed the temples of his head, "Maybe I should take a break." He spinned the chair and looked at the mirror right behind him. Something peculiar caught his eye, '_Wha?_' He looked back at the screen and at the mirror, "Sonics DNA sequence is backwards! That means Dash really is Sonic! I need to get everyone to save him!"

**With Eggman**

"How do you feel Sonic? Or do you prefer Dash?" Eggman was full of joy with his plan now coming full circle.

"It's whatever you with it to be Master Robotnik..." Dash saluted and stayed perfectly still.

"Let's stick with Dash then. No need for the whole world to know who you really are." Eggman took out a small box, "Now, put these on..." He threw the box at the hedgehog who caught it with ease. Inside were Sonic's runner shoes with an altered color of light blue and his gloves that held a glint on the knuckles. Dash put the gloves on and inspected the glint more.

"Try pressing the button on the side." Eggman suggested. Dash nodded and to his surprise, sharp studs came out meaning a painful punch. Dash started to feel a tingly sensation in his leg and seemed unphased when he saw a part of his leg slowly becoming robotic.

"The shoes and gloves will enhance your abilites by slowly roboticizing them. The process is slow but will make you into an unbeatable being." Eggman stepped behind him, "Stand still, this may hurt." Eggman implanted the green chip he stole from G.U.N. on his neck followed the path of the other chip. Dash didn't even flinch, "This chip contains the ability to form any weapon of choice. Gon on, think of one." Dash closed his eyes and envisioned a sword, when he opened them, his glove turned into the very sword in his mind, "The metal you are slowly being turned into," Eggman explained, "and the metal used on each weapon you create is a metal of my own creation. It's unstobable which I guess make you the new ultimate life form. HOHOHOHOHO!" Eggman wiped away a tear, "Not even Shadow can break through the metal! Soon! My dreams of Eggmanland will come to be!"

Dash made no remark as he awaited orders.

"Destroy everything in your path and stop for nothing! Now go!" Eggman sent him out and Dash sped off with speeds that only the adults could dream of.

**With Shadow**

Shadow looked up at the stars, '_Never thought life would get this complicated..._' He saw a shooting star, "Dash loo-" He stopped himself, '_Dash is Sonic... Your number one rival! NOT... your son..._' Shadow sighed, '_Even though... I want him to be._' He started to have flashbacks of everything he's gone through with Dash. His first steps, first words, first run, first everything. Each one a speacial moment to him.

"What am I thinking... My rival as a son...?"

'_You didn't care much when you didn't know who he was._' His concious argued.

"If I recall, I had no decision in-"

'_Yes you did._' His concious counter acted, '_You could've taken him to any other family that could care for him but you decided to keep him._'

"..."

'_As much as you try to deny him because he's your rival, you raised him differently from the attitude he used to possess. Sure he had his moments where he acted up like Sonic, but you did manage to tone that attitude down._'

Shadow sighed, "So now I'm supposed to run over and save him... That's what everyone's expecting. Right?"

'_Not forcing you to do it. It's your decision._'

Shadow continued his star gazing and remembering how Maria took care of him.

'_She could've just left me alone and the only one that would have to deal with me was the professor. Yet, she accepted me and took me in. Even if I was a stranger._'

"Sonic was a total stranger as a kit and I took him in... Something Maria would've done."

He closed his eyes debating and arguing with himself but was interupted when a loud explosion was heard. He looked west where he saw smoke, fire, and buildings slowly falling.

"I don't have time for this..." He was about to walk away when he saw a blue blur going left and right in the city, "So, Eggman really couldn't wait." He began to skate as fast as he could towards the city, '_Dash..._'

**G.U.N. Base**

"Shame..." The commander sighed as he looked at a screen.

"What are we supposed to so sir?" The soldiers asked.

"Easy, he's become a threat to the world and our job is to erradicate anything that can cause major harm to citizens."

"But you trained him for-"

"I KNOW what I did soldier! But, I'm not going to waste my time trying to save a lost cause. Destroy him at all costs." The commander gave the order and just as quickly, a squadrant moved out.

**Sonic: That was Eggman's plan!**

**Shadow: Hm... who would've thought.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Yep! So what do you all think? I've kept everyone waiting for Eggman's plan and now that I revealed it, I WANT to know what you all think. Also, What did you think about Shadow's reaction? Also, did this chapter feel rushed at all or did I insert Eggman's plan at the right moment? Reviews, Follows, and Favorites are HIGHLY appreciated! And thank you all for sticking with me this far. I'm not sure how long this story will be to be honest. Hehe...**

**Sonic: Maybe this chapter could be the ending and you can start a sequel!**

**SuperSonicSpeed: HMMMMM?**

**Shadow: Unless you want more tomatoes aimed at you, I don't recommend that.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Good point... Well, til' next time!**

**Shadow: *Gets hit by a tomato* RaliK360... You're going to regret that, Chaos-**

**SuperSonicSpeed: *Covers Shadow's mouth* HAHAHA! You deserved it Shadow! Next time... Let us in the shield. ;)**


	11. Phase 2

**SuperSonicSpeed: Miss me? :D**

**Shadow: Define miss...**

**SuperSonicSpeed: I'm too lazy to find a dictionary. Besides, you always gloat that you're the ultimate life form. Shouldn't you practically be a dictionary?**

**Sonic: SHHHHH!**

**Shadow: ?**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Dare I ask?**

**Sonic: Swan7 has a chilidog gun and I'm getting ready to catch those doggies.**

**Shadow: Of course...**

**SuperSonicSpeed: We'll just step aside. Shadow, care to put up a shield?**

**Shadow: Didn't you read what OptimisticQueenRandom wrote in the reviews? It's chaos time. Not Chaos shield. It's nice to know someone did their homework.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Shut it with the homework. Besides, I don't want to be pelted by chilidogs! That reminds me! If there are any questions in the reviews, they will be answered at the end of each story. :)**

**Shadow: I have other things to do *shrugs and disappears***

**SuperSonicSpeed: Hey! You better not be after Ralik360! *sigh* I own none of the characters.**

**Sonic: And I own all these chilidogs!**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Did you just build a chilidog fort!?**

**Sonic: Yep! And I'm king in this fort! So I decree the story to start!**

Destruction, flames, and people running away.

'_Does this bring back memories..._' Shadow remembered his time with Black Doom and what he did, '_Where is he?_' He looked around but the blur he saw was no longer around. He began heard tanks rolling in and coordinated marches, '_Time for me to spy a bit._' Shadow hid behind a beat down building and began to eavesdrop on the oncoming soldiers.

"He was last sighted here."

"Look at this place!"

"Begin looking for survivors!"

"That Project: Speed did a heck of a lot of damage... It's just as bad as Shadow's betrayal."

Shadow smirked, '_Like father like son._' He wiped his smirk off just as fast as it came, '_Faker..._'

"HELP US!" A few civilians were trapped in a building that seemed to begin to sway. A few soldiers ran towards to aid them. A few others remained planning.

"I say we trick speed into coming to a new city with a chaos emerald! We'll be ready with all our arsenals and we'll take him down!"

"Good plan," A sarcastic toned voice appeared, "Where exactly are we going to get a chaos emerald?" The soldier stayed silent.

"We're going to have to attack as soon as he begins to attack another city." Everyone agreed and began to evacuate everyone else.

Shadow chaos controlled to Tails's house, "By the look of things, they aren't going to hold back on destroying Da- Sonic."

Tails huffed, '_Just say Dash... He may be Sonic but his attitude is completely different from Sonic's_' He looked at his computer trying to crack codes to Eggman's files, "He has back up firewalls, viruses that can practically destroy my computers, and 24 hour surveillance. I can't get in!"

The door swung open and everyone from the baby shower party came in.

"I got everyone together Tails," Knuckles greeted Shadow with a nod, "What do you want us to do?"

Tails turned around and everyone saw the bags under his eyes. He hadn't slept in days! "I can't hack Eggman's main frame from my computer, so I need you all to get Dash," Shadow cringed at the name, "Over here so I can study the chip personally."

Everyone nodded and left to another room to discuss a plan. Shadow looked at Tails with accusing eyes, "You haven't told them have you?"

Tails shook his head, "If they knew they would only get distracted. It's better if Sonic's identity stays between us." Tails went back to work and Shadow went to see how the plan was looking. Everyone turned around as the door opened.

"Well, speak of the devil." Knuckles smirked.

"Don't tell me. You want me to go after Dash while you all sit idly on the sidelines waiting to make your move." Shadow crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame waiting to have his answer confirmed.

"It's all we got. Besides, if I fight him, he's going to end up getting beat into a pulp." Knuckles laughed.

"Fine by me." Shadow's words came out faster then he had expected them to, '_Crud..._'

"Shadow, you can't be serious!" Amy stepped up, "You're the one who wanted to be the father! Now start acting like one before I-"

Shadow was fed up with being accused. He just, snapped, "I DID ACT LIKE ONE! Until I found out that Dash was really your Faker!"

"SHADOW!" Tails yelled as he heard the commotion. Everyone gasped and looked at each other.

"Is this true Tails?" Silver asked.

Tails glared at Shadow. Something that surprised everyone, "Yes. Eggman managed to somehow flip Sonic's DNA sequence. I think it has something to do with that chip."

"That explains the blue streaks he has. But shouldn't he look completely different since his DNA is all screwy?" Knuckles scratched his head feeling uncomfortable with the scientific subject.

"Maybe his parents were similar which caused him to not have a drastic change." Tails shrugged, "DNA isn't exactly my specialty."

"Why didn't you tell us Dash was Sonic?!" Amy exclaimed, 'Had I known I would've really fought to keep Dash with me.'

"Because-" Shadow interrupted Tails.

"Because we don't want anyone to hold back when we're fighting him." Shadow began fixing his glove, "I, for once, don't plan to."

"You better not hurt my Sonic!" Amy summoned her hammer. Something Shadow only ignored, he began to walk away when the T.V. began an alert.

"Calamity!" A reporter announced, "A blue hedgehog has gone berserk in the city!" A scream was heard, "It's seems he's destroying everything in sight and- NO! STOP!" Dash closed in on the reporter and camera man. They both fled when Dash made a rain of Chaos Spears.

"You will all worship Master Robotnik and his empire!" Dash began to chuckle sadistically as the camera was destroyed by the spears.

Everyone was too busy staring at the T.V. no one noticed Shadow had already disappeared.

'_Dash!_' Shadow couldn't fight the fatherly instincts he had developed, '_I need to stop him before anyone else does!_'

His conscious chuckled, '_You just can't stand those words he said. It makes you feel embarrassed that you didn't do anything to stop him from joining Eggman._'

Shadow growled, '_It's not that! I just can't let that Faker destroy the world or else I'll be breaking my promise to Maria._'

'_Riiight..._' His conscious faded as he arrived to the city.

**With Eggman**

Eggman was overjoyed by the work Dash had done to the city, '_This turned out better than I expected!_' The city was nothing but rubble, "Begin construction immediately!"

Robots descended from the sky and landed on their new area. They began to clear everything and began building the empire.

"Dr. Eggman!" Bocoe announced, "What will you do to the other cities?"

Eggman relaxed on his chair, "Maybe I should make another amusement park. A vacation spot wouldn't be too shabby either."

"A wonderful idea!" Decoe agreed, "Can we stay in the vacation spot!?"

"No... Now get back to work! There's still a lot to be done!" The two robots made no hesitation and went back to work.

**In Another City**

Dash laughed as all the humans ran away from him. His attacks came non-stop, "Why run!? I'll find each and everyone of you so you can kneel before my master!"

"You're going to have to go through me before you get the chance to." A deep voice interjected.

"Look! It's Shadow!" A civilian yelled out.

"Well, I'm not gonna lie. I've been eager to fight you." Dash had an evil smile that gave even Shadow the chills.

Shadow only glared.

"What's wrong? Disappointed?" Dash laughed, "Angry that I'm not a hero like you or that Sonic guy?"

Shadow smirked, '_If only you knew Dash._'

"Wipe that smile off your face!" Dash unleashed his Chaos spears. When the smoke cleared, Shadow was nowhere to be seen, "Where?" He closed his eyes and kicked behind him, sending Shadow straight into the wall, "Your Chaos Control won't work on me."

Shadow stood up, he really didn't see that coming, '_Time for a new strategy._' He attacked straight on and Dash followed. They were hitting blow for blow. There was no stopping. Dash's hand began to glow and Shadow automatically jumped back. Dash's glove became a sword. It wasn't til now that Shadow noticed what Eggman had done, '_Not only has he roboticized his mind, but he's also roboticizing his body!_'

That minor distraction almost got him a deep gash on his right arm.

"What? Jealous of what you see?" Dash laughed.

"Hmph, I would never want to be a puppet." Shadow answered.

This made Dash snap, "I'm no puppet!" He unleashed his chaos spears and saw Shadow dodge each and everyone of them. Shadow charged towards Dash and Dash did the same. Shadow dodged the sword and aimed a punch to Dash's stomach, '_Have to remember, he is my _rival_._' His conscience intervened, '_But also your son._' Dash dodged the blow making Shadow hit the hard concrete and causing a mini quake, '_JUST SHUT IT!_'

"Looks like someone's finally serious." Dash concentrated his chaos energy to the sword making it glow.

'_Face it,_' Shadow's conscience continued, '_You can't hurt him because-_' Dash rushed him and Shadow pulled his fist back, '_I SAID,_' Shadow sidestepped and threw the punch, "QUIET!" Shadow hit Dash straight on the jaw making him fly back. Dash blacked out for a few minutes.

'_Did I just...?_' Shadow walked over to Dash.

"Dad?" Dash opened his eyes.

"Are you ok? Can you stand?" Shadow was definitely worried.

"You worry too much!" Dash gave a light hearted laugh and hugged his dad. Shadow's couldn't fight his instincts. He hugged him back tighter.

"Hey Dad..." Dash spoke up after a few minutes.

"What is it?" Shadow perked his ears up.

"Sayonara..." Shadow couldn't process what he had heard fast enough. His eyes started to widen, "CHAOS BLAST!"

Everything, went dark.

Dash laughed meniacally when he heard G.U.N. troops nearing, "Looks like I gotta run." He looked at Shadow's unconscience form, '_But what does Eggman want me to do about this guy._'

The tanks were getting closer so he picked up Shadow and Chaos Controled out.

**With Eggman**

Eggman was enjoying the view of his empire coming to life, "Now all I need to make sure of is that none of Sonic's friends get in the way." Eggman heard a message beep, "What is it?"

"Master, I have Shadow the Hedgehog and I don't know what you wish to do with him."

"You beat Shadow!?" Eggman was feeling that glee again.

"Yes." The response was plain and simple.

"First off, don't take him anywhere near my base. They tend to have a habit of escaping even my highest gaurded cells." Eggman had to think, "Got it! We're going to split the 'dream' team up."

"Explain." Dash gave mild interest and grinned as the plan progressed.

"Did you get all that?" Eggman asked.

"Clear as daylight." Both chuckled and Dash set the plan in motion.

**In a high up Mountain**

Shadow was starting to come. He winced when he felt a throbbing sensation in his head, '_Where am I?_' When he reached to rub his head, he realized how heavy his wrist was, '_A CHAIN!?_' He started to notice he was imprisoned somewhere, '_Like any of this could hold me down._' "Chaos Sp-" A surge of electricity went through his body and his Chaos energy began to drain. He stopped the attack instantly, '_Chaos drain?_' He sighed inwardly and looked for his communicator, but it was gone.

A chuckle eminated, "Looking for this?" Dash twirled the communicator around his fingers, "Lovely view don't you think?" He looked at the sky and at the horizon.

Shadow glared as he fought the chains holding him down.

"By the looks of things, you figured out what the chains you're bound to will do to you if you use any chaos energy."

Shadow said nothing as he remembered what got him there in the first place. He growled, '_I can't believe I fell for the oldest trick in the book!_'

"No need to be so angry." Dash stood up and started walking away. He turned around with glowing ruby eyes and smiled. That smile, was unnatural, "You won't be the only one suffering. Others will follow just like you."

"Why should I care." Shadow finally spoke.

"You cared when I fooled you."

Shadow gave a death glare but hesitation was in his eyes. He started to flicker between the cocky overconfident hedgehog to Dash, his son, '_I really need to get over this... and out of here._'

"Don't think about escape, that cell was made specifically for you." Dash crushed the communicator under his foot and started to walk away towards his new target. Leaving Shadow alone, '_No prison can hold me Dash. You'll learn that the hard way._' Shadow started to formulate his escape plan.

**With Knuckles and Tails**

"Where did he go!?" Knuckles asked impatiently. He and Tails had been looking for Shadow for hours and no trace of him was found.

"I don't know. But maybe he went after Dash?" Tails looked at the city ruins, "By the look of things, the fight must've been serious."

"Agreed. Then again, it's not something new." Knuckles was getting bored. They were about to leave when they heard a humming sound coming their way.

"EGGMAN!" Knuckles put his fists up.

"Well, if it isn't the welcoming brigade." Eggman's face turned serious, "Now get out! You're trespassing in my territory!"

"Your territory!?" Tails exclaimed, "This city belongs to the people you forced out."

"Then allow me to force you all out." Eggman pressed a button, "ATTACK!"

Hundreds of robots surrounded them.

"I can take on as many as you throw Eggman!" Knuckles said with pride. But his heart sank when a large robot appeared with a familiar looking steel.

"Knuckles, we have to leave! That robot is made with the same metal that I found in the area Sonic was last in!" Tails grabbed Knuckles's arms and hoisted him up.

"HEY!" Knuckles was not happy with running away. Until he saw two more large robots arrive, "I think Egghead has officially lost it!"

Tails was worried, '_Since when did Eggman start acting like a dictator? He usually doesn't blow things so far out of proportions._'

Lasers were being shot towards them and Tails was struggling to dodge them all.

"Drop me!"

"Are you insane! I can't do that Knuckles!"

"You have to get away while I fight these guys off!" Knuckles was busy trying to get himself free.

"No way! We both need to get away!"

All argument was interrupted when a blast was heard at down below. What they saw put a smile on their face. Dash was fighting off Eggman's robots!

"You insolent hedgehog! You're supposed to be serving me!" Eggman was furious.

Dash just ignored him and kept fighting. Tails and Knuckles joined in and quickly got rid of all the small robots.

"Now for the big guns." Dash rushed a large robot and kicked it hard. Since his shoes were made of the same metal, Dash had no problem destroying it.

Eggman fled as the last big robot fell.

"That wasn't so tough." Dash stretched.

"How did you break free!?" Tails was excited Dash was back.

"Egghead thought he had me, but you know I have my ways." Dash winked. For a second, he looked like normal easy going Sonic.

"AAAH!"

"KNUCKLES!" Both Tails and Dash yelled.

Knuckles was dragged underground and disappeared. They couldn't do anything.

"We'll track him down!" Dash was about to jump into the hole when Tails stopped him.

"I have an idea to track him. We need to go to my workshop to do this though." Dash nodded and followed Tails.

**At The Workshop**

Tails and Dash were in front of a large computer screen.

"I should be able to track Knuckles down with the chaos energy he releases." Tails continued typing.

"Can you find my dad!?" Dash said hurriedly making Tails turn around, "I'm worried about him. We never saw him when we walked in and I can't sense his chaos energy."

Tails turned back to his computer, "I tried... But something blocked his signal. It's like he disappeared from the face of the earth."

Dash looked down saddened, "Oh..."

"We'll find him too! Don't worry! He's worried sick for you!" Tails tried to comfort, but Dash only nodded.

'_He must really miss him._' Tails continued typing, "I can't believe it!"

"What is it?" Dash looked up.

"He disappeared too!" Tails frantically kept typing and looking at the screen. He never noticed the smile on Dash's face. The last thing Tails felt, was a hit to the head.

**SuperSonicSpeed: Ouch on trickery!**

**Shadow: Hmph... You have a question from OptimisticQueenRandom.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Oh? What is it?**

**Sonic: She's wondering-**

**Shadow: How you came up with the idea of the backwards DNA sequence.**

**Sonic: HEY! I was telling her the question!**

**Shadow: *Rolls eyes***

**SuperSonicSpeed: OH! I remembered the time I drew on a foggy window. When I looked at it from the other side, it was backwards. So I wrote a word backwards and when I looked at it at it again from the other side, it was normal. HAHA! I've done that before with mirrors too. I think it's funny how something backwards can look normal in the mirror. :)**

**Sonic: *Pinned down by Shadow* Interesting story.**

**Shadow: Now tell one that doesn't put me to sleep.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: *Sticks out tongue* ANYWAYS! Thank you for reading! I know it's a bit awkward calling Sonic Dash but thank you for bearing with it. I'm not sure when Dash will be Sonic again (or even if Sonic will be back. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!) *COUGH COUGH* To be honest I make this up as I go and then tweak. Funny thing is I had to rewrite a section because my computer thought it would be a great idea delete it by freezing. HAHA! -.- I'm rambling now... On another note! Thank you so much for reading, reviewing, following and favoriting! If it weren't for you all, I would not be writing. So THANK YOU! Don't know when the next Chapter will be up, due to technical difficulty, BUT hopefully soon! I will be working on it. :) Till next time folks!**


	12. Sudden Turns

**Sonic: Now that was a wait.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Not my fault! Blame the computer virus!**

**Shadow: Suuure. Blame the computer virus.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: ... Fine, my fault! AND I'm sorry!**

**Shadow: Was that so hard?**

**SuperSonicSpeed: ... Anyways! I apologize for the wait. Hopefully this chapter might explain the events from last chapter. My bad it if got a little confusing. If it is still confusing by the end of this chapter, just let me know and I'll try to explain better.**

**Sonic: Now I have a food maker to get.**

**S****hadow: She doesn't own us. She just writes about us.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Yep, so let's start!**

Tails opened his eyes slowly, holding his head from the sudden impact, 'What happened?' Tails looked around and saw he was in his room?

"Good, you're up?" Dash walked up to Tails holding a cup of tea, "I was worried you wouldn't wake up." He inspected the fox's head to see if there was any severe damage, "Everything seems ok."

"What happened?" Tails asked grogilly.

"While you were looking at your computer, a tile from the cieling hit your head." Dash lifted up a broken up tile into Tails's line of view.

"A... Tile?" Tails looked at the tile curiously, '_It doesn't look like it hit my head though..._'

"Yeah, then Amy came in and well, now we're here." Dash shrugged, "Anyways, we've come up with a plan to defeat Eggman and to find my dad and Knuckles."

"What is it?" Tails was curious.

"We attack head on."

"Head on!?" Tails said a little too loudly, "But we've alredy had two of us captured! We can't risk it!"

"There's plenty of us. We can take him head on." Dash countered.

"No! We need to come up with a different plan. A sneak attack or anything BUT a head on attack!" Tails complained.

"If we do a sneak attack then we'll end up splitting up which will make us vulnerable! We can't just split up and risk losing everyone!" Dash was getting frustrated.

'_Stubborn like his dad..._' Tails sighed heavily, "Fine... When will the attack be done?"

Dash straightened up and crossed his arms, "Eggman was gloating about some scheme in a city a few miles north from here. We'll be waiting for him there." Dash sounded very... calculative.

'_Strange, I havn't heard him make fun of Eggman's name and he's suddenly taking charge? Either he's up to something, or he's turning into Shadow._' Tails got up to join the rest of the team and finalize the attack plan, but somthing caught his eye, '_Dash's body is still getting robotisized? But i thought that he broke free from the chip!?_' Sure enough, the metal had almost completely engulfed Dash's two legs and was now trying to creep up to his stomach. His shoes were pure metal and his arms were robotisized halfway.

**With Eggman**

"Sir, why has Dash turned on you? I thought that the chip implanted in his mind was meant to take away any free will?" Bocoe asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, what was that all about?" Decoe pushed the question, '_For someone whose main plan rebeled against him, he doesn't seem too upset._'

"You two are never really all that patient are you?" Eggman said in a monotone voice. They were heading for the city that was soon to be known by the name that started his entire villian career, Robotropolis.

**With Shadow**

"Damn Eggman..." Shadow had started to go into a state of malencholy.

_Flashback_

"HO HO HO HO!" Eggman slowly apprached the prison, "It seems the ultimate life form is having trouble getting out of his prison."

Shadow scoffed and glared, "What exactly are you doing here? I thought you were in the middle of a world wide takeover." He seemed uninterested but his eyes wandered, '_Where's Dash?_'

"He's not here with me." Shadow looked at Eggman as the words seeped in, "He's with your little, friends."

'_He's... Safe?_' Shadow smirked, "What? Can't even control a hedgehog with a chip in his head?"

When Eggman didn't make a face or any remark Shadow got suspicious. His eyes slowly widening.

It became Eggman's turn to give a sly smile, "Knuckles is already down and the others are next." He turned and walked towards his hover vehicle, "I'll let you know how the other things go." He dissapeared laughing meniachally.

_End Flashback_

'_I HAVE to get out of here!_' Shadow stood up with sudden determination and continued to find ways of escape, '_He's thought things through,_' he continued looking, '_But even if he had,_' He looked at his wrists where his golden rings stayed clamped on, '_He can only control so much..._' Shadow started calculating and a ghost of a smile appeared on his face, '_Why didn't I think of this before._'

He took off his inhibitor rings and started feeling the drain, '_Only one shot at this._' He started summoning as much chaos energy as he could, "CHAOS... BLAST!" The cell broke to pieces and the chains that drained him burst. It was too much energy to contain. Shadow rubbed his wrists and as he walked to retrieve the rings, he was hit by a dizzy spell, "I guess I over did it." He put his hand to his head trying to get rid of the feeling, but it only got worse.

"I need to get as far away from here as possible before I can rest." He started running as fast as he could in no given direction, trying not to fall from the massive drain.

**With Dash and The Others**

"That's the city." Dash gave Tails the Binoculars to see through.

"I still don't think a head on assualt will work." Tails examined, "There are barely any escape routes and the small streets may make it hard to manuever around."

"Don't worry Tails!" Amy explained, "We can do this!"

Tails let out a deep sigh as he dropped the binoculars, "I'm just saying that thing can go wrong in a few minutes if we're not careful."

Everyone looked at each other and determination came to everyones eyes, "We gotta try."

"Let's go then." Dash motioned to move foward.

As Tails followed the rest, he felt someones hand catch his shoulder.

"I agree with you on this one," a low seductive voice said, "To be honest, I think something's off with that kid."

Tails smiled, "Thanks Rouge." He looked down, "But what should we do?"

Rouge thought for a minute, "Let's see how things play out. I saw a few places we can hide in durong the battle. No point in us getting caught now is there?." Tails nodded and folowed her.

**With Dash and the rest of the team**

As Dash led them into the city, they noticed that a lot of the buildings had been abandoned. Cars were parked in the middle of the street and the only sound was their footsteps, their breathing, and a few of the car engines on. It was eary alright. But the silence didn't last, a huge robot appeared and began it's rampage.

"Let's move!" Yelled vector.

Eggman appeared, "Well, if it isn't the traitor himself."

Dash smirked at the hidden meaning of the sentence but stayed silent. He began to help the others fight the robot but, '_He looks like he's not even trying._' Espio noticed. He began to grow suspicious. Everyone fell back, "Rush him all together!" Yelled Charmy. They all jumped and kicked the robot at the same time but, everyones foot got stuck.

"My newest creation," Eggman chuckled, "liquid metal. It can instantly harden and absorb." He smiled, "Good job Dash."

Everyone looked at Dash as they were sucked deeper and deeper into the robot. Dash bowed, "Thank you, Master."

"What!?" Everyone yelled.

"I thought he was on our side," yelled Amy.

"You all really think I would just let my control on the hedgehog slip!?" He laughed as he lowered his Egg carrier. He began to pet Dash's head and noticed the tips of his quills slowly roboticizing. Dash only remained still with a blank expression on his face.

"Take them to their prisons. Make sure they don't escape." The robot complied and took off.

"You didn't get Tails and Rouge." Eggman spoke quietly. Dash remained still, "Your orders were to get all of them in one location." Eggman ceased petting him and picked him up by the scruff, "You disobeyed."

"They were there! They must have sneaked away while I was leading them into the city." Dash finally defended himself but spoke in a low submissive voice.

Eggman pulled on the scruff harder and was satisfied when he heard a yelp, "Find them and bring them here. Understand!"

Dash nodded and Eggman released him, "Now go." Dash took off leaving a blue trail behind him.

**With Rouge and Tails**

They saw and heard everything from a small alley way. Eggman dissapeared and they assumed he was going to visit the new prisinors.

"I knew it!" Tails said getting up.

"So now what? We know we can't trust him but we can't fight him alone. Eggman just took our entire group!" Rouge crossed her arms.

"We need to find Shadow. He has to be somewhere. I just have to figure out how to find him." Tails began to think.

Rouge looked to her side and smiled, "Tails?"

"Not now Rouge. I think I've got something." He took out a tracking device and started fiddling around with it.

"Tails?!" Rouge grabbed his shoulder.

"Hold on! I'm close to figuring out how to find him" Tails kept looking down.

"Maybe closer than you think." Spoke a low voice.

Tails looked up, "SHADOW!"

Shadow stayed with his usual stoic expression, "Where are the others?"

"Captured..." Rouge looked down, "We've practically lost all our muscle thanks to Dash."

'_So it's true, he's still under his control... DAMMIT!_' Shadow closed his eyes, "I need to find Dash. Our last battle was... inconsistent."

"What!? But you just got back!" Rouge and Tails exclaimed.

"Besides," Rouge continued, "Didn't he beat you last time?"

Shadow opened his eyes with a glare, "By using trickery." Shadow looked at Tails, "Did you manage to get any info on the chip inside Dash's brain?"

"I did!" Tails started looking through the computer. Shadow looked around the alley they were in and stopped when he heard a gasp. He noticed the fox was starting to have a bit of a panic attack.

"What is it?" Shadow asked alarmed, '_Is there no cure?_'

Tails looked up and almost yelled, "Dash deleted all the information I had when I got knocked out!"

"We just can't win once can we?" Rouge sighed, "Next thing you know the doctor will begin collecting the Chaos Emeralds."

Shadow and Tails looked up at her, Tails swallowed hard.

"Um... What has he been using to power up the robots?" Tails asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

"Chaos Emeralds." Shadow spat out, "But why couldn't I sense them?"

"New tech?" Tails said, "We need to get out of here. We're not safe while Dash is hunting us down."

In agreement, they left to the lab.

**With Dash**

"WHERE ARE THEY!?" He was angry, frustrated, and annoyed (Sound like someone?).

He ran with no direction in mind and ended up near the place he left Shadow.

"Maybe I should check on him." Dash started walking up, but stopped. He clutched his head as a memory tried to rise from its prison. But didn't succeed.

"What was that? Maybe I need a nap..." He lied down and closed his eyes.

_Dream_

"Everything is all, metallic." Dash gazed at his surroundings.

"Wasn't always like that." A cocky voice spoke.

Dash turned around to see a blue hedgehog just like him. Only no streaks and he had emerald eyes.

"You're..."

"Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog. I'd give you a thumbs up but uh..." Chains held him down against a wall and rendered him unable to move.

"What are you doing in my dream?"

"Dream? This isn't a dream, this is your state of mind."

Dash gave him a confused look.

"You see, you're, er, we're being controled by Eggman."

"We're?"

"Well, We are the same person but we have completely different personalities."

Dash started walking away.

"HEY!"

"You really think I'd fall for that!?"

"It's not a trick! Ask Shadow!"

"How do you know him!?"

"He's my number one rival and a grumpy leave me alone hedghog."

"Sounds like him in a bad day." Dash said and was surprised that it came out so, naturally. Like if he knew him for a long time. They both chuckled but Sonic stopped when he noticed something.

"You're being robotisized."

Dash stopped laughing and looked down, "It's what my Master wants."

"Master!? Don't tell me you're working with Eggbutt!?"

"It's Eggman! Get it right!"

"The guys bad news! He's controlling you! That would explain all the metal in this place!" Sonic started fighting the restraints. He stopped when he noticed that the more he struggled, he deeper the wall went into the liquid metal. He felt a sharp pain in his leg and realized his leg was being robotisized, "NO!" He closed his eyes and tried to push the pain away. When he opened them, his leg was back to normal. He looked at Dash with a serious look, "Listen, some how you managed to take my place in controlling my body." The Chains tightened, "And it looks like I'm not gonna be leaving anytime soon." He was about to ask something but noticed a chaos barrier around him, '_So much for asking him to break the chains._' He looked at Dash and got an idea, "Don't you want your freedom back?"

"Freedom?" The word didn't sound like one he's heard before.

"Do what you want, when you want, whenever you want to?"

Dash didn't speak.

"WAKE UP YOU LAZY HEDGEHOG!" A voice echoed.

Sonic growled. He knew that voice.

_End Dream_

Dash woke up and saw the tall man himself looking straight at him.

"Didn't I tell you to look for the others?"

Dash nodded and got up, "My apologies, I just felt really drained."

'That's right... He still isn't fully robotisized and he needs sleep for energy. He hasn't slept sinced I first turned him against the others.' Eggman sighed, "Go rest, you're no good to me if you're weak."

Dash nodded and started walking away, but stopped, "What's... Freedom?"

**SuperSonicSpeed: I'm ending it here for now. :) Hopefully I get my computer back soon so I can update faster. Public computers only give you limited time, sadly... And I hope this chapter makes up for the wait. PLEASE REVIEW! I love reading your reviews and I want to know what you think. Are there any ideas you all have to make this better? Should I rewrite a chapter? What should Sonic be throughout the chapters now that he's "Come Back"? Let me know what's on your mind. THANK YOU FOR READING! Love YA'LL!**

**Shadow: So when's the next chapter?**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Hopefully soon... You think Eggman can fix my computer?**

**Sonic: I wouldn't trust him! Just leave it where it is!**

**Everyone: Till next time ladies and gents! *Bows***

**Shadow: When did we become stage performers?**


	13. A step back

**SuperSonicSpeed: HOLAS EVERYONE!  
**

**Shadow: *Grumbles* Did you have to yell? I was in the middle of a nap.  
**

**Sonic: Yeah... *Stretches* Some of us need our beauty sleep...  
**

**Shadow: The only "beautiful" thing about you is when you're completely silent.  
**

**Sonic: HEY!  
**

**SuperSonicSpeed and Shadow: *Chuckles*  
**

**Sonic: Well look at the time! She doesn't own us. Start!  
**

_'What is... Freedom?' _

Those three words kept dancing around Eggmans head, 'Where in the world did he get that from!?' He looked at Dash's eyes. Pure rubies that shined redder than those Shadow had. But there was something he couldn't put his finger on that made them look different. Dash only stared blankly at his Master.

Eggman spoke low, but venom laced every word, "Where... did you hear... such a horrid word."

Dash hesitated and this didn't go unnoticed.

_'He's supposed to be a mindless drone...'_ Eggman observed.

Dash was about to speak, '_Don't say it!_' Dash looked around to see where the voice came from.

"ANSWER ME!" Eggman was beginning to lose his patience.

'_Don't say it was me! He'll probably destroy me in here too!_' Sonic sounded desperate.

Dash was divided, he didn't know what to say.

"That's it!" Eggman lifted up the half robotisized hedgehog and glared intensely into his eyes, "YOU obey ME! UNDERSTAND!" Dash flinched at the loud voice.

'_Don't show fear! SPEAK UP!_' Sonic was getting angry, '_HANDS OFF EGGHEAD!_'

Dash looked down and spoke in a monotone voice, "Sorry master... I understand. What are my orders?"

"To answer my question, where did you hear such a horrible word?" Eggman waited, never loosening his grip.

"I... Heard it from..." Dash gulped.

_'If you say it's me you'll never be free! You won't be able to make any of your own choices! Do you really want someone ordering you around for the rest of your life!'_

"S-S-" Dash stuttered.

'_STOP!_' Sonic wanted to take control of his own body, but he couldn't break out of the mental prison.

"Well?!" Eggman was annoyed.

"Shadow!"

"Hm? When did you see him?" Eggman raised a brow.

"No! Over there!" Dash pointed at the three running forms.

Eggman took out a small comunicator, "EGGMORPHER! GET THEM!"

An earthquake hit as the metallic gargantuan moved underground.

Dash believed he was home free but Eggman didn't release his hold.

"As for you, I need to check something. But before we go," Eggman looked at the direction he sent his minion, "We'll enjoy the show." Eggman shoved Dash into the Egg Carrier and put an ankle chain on his right leg.

"What's this for?" Dash looked at it curiously.

Eggman stayed quiet as the carrier rose and they waited to observe the fight.

**With Shadow, Rouge, and Tails **

'_Dash... Where are you?_' Shadow had been distracted the whole time Tails and Rouge spoke.  
"...igh... ...dow...? ...adow? SHADOW!?"

Shadow snapped out of his trance, "Hm?"

"I said that as soon as we set Dash free," Tails paused a bit, "We should probably turn him back into Sonic."

Shadows eyes flicked with various emotions.

"Well I say Sonic should stay as Dash." Rouge implied, "Think about it, wouldn't he feel a bit lost?" She began counting with her fingers, "He hasn't been himself for years, he'll be younger..."

"And more annoying..." Shadow added.

"As I was saying," Rouge glared at the ebony hedgehog, "Younger than the rest of us, and our world has really changed over the years." Rouge added.

Tails looked down, "But he has every right to be in control! It's his body!"

"You think we don't know that?!" Shadow spat. As soon as he realized his tone he looked away and walked faster.

"Listen," Rouge spoke gently, "Dash is the closest person he has. You know he's distant with the rest of us."

"But he's been hanging out and visiting us AND..." Tails was interupted by Rouge raising her hand, signaling him to stop, "He did that because Dash helped him to. Don't you see? Splitting them up would only..."

"But he's my brother!" Tails choked back his tears, "Don't I have the right to see him again!" He looked up glaring, "Besides, Shadow didn't even want to save Dash when he found out he was Sonic!"

Shadow froze and Rouge sighed.

"Do you feel that?" Shadow spoke cautiously.

"Feel what?" Rouge looked around while Tails remained silent.

The rumbling that was unnoticed kept getting stronger and stronger.

"MOVE!" Shadow yelled.

The three of them jumped in seperate directions and a snake like robot appeared from underground.

"I'll take care of it! Tails, Rouge, I need you to get as far away from here as possible."

"No way! We're helping. That thing is the liquid metal robot that took all our friends. You're going to need all the help you can get."  
"I'll check if that thing has a weakness. I'm sure that I can hack it if I try hard enough." Tails ran to the sidelines and started working on his gadget.

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow got the first move, nailing it directly in the eye. The snake didn't even flinch, instead it charged at Shadow forcing him to sidestep.

'_He's trying to coil around me._' Shadow jumped up, narrowly avoiding the snakes squeeze.

Rouge tornado kicked the snakes other eye and flew back up. The snake gave chase and was stopped by a sudden rain of Chaos Spears. Shadow noticed each spear being absorbed, 'None of the attacks are working.' Shadow dodged left, '_And how can he see without his eyes?_'

"Fox kid! Are you anywhere near hacking this thing?!" Shadow saw the metal liquifying and avoided getting rammed, 'That thing is trying to absorb us. That must mean it's getting desperate'

"Not a kid! And almost, this stuff has major incriptions!" Tails rapidly pressed buttons on his gadget.

Shadow avoided the sudden snake bite and noticed something peculiar, '_His eyes were restored. Ofcourse! Liquid_ _metal can't get damaged. Which means it needs to be utterly destroyed. A Chaos Blast should do the trick._'

"Rouge, Tails! Run!"

They both looked up and noticed Shadow starting to glow red.

"Chaos... Bl-"

"Hold it right there!" An annoying voice came from above, "If you unleash that blast, your little runt gets destroyed as well."

Shadows glow began to dissapear as he saw Eggman lift up a familiar blue figure.

His eyes widened, '_Dash_!' He glared at Eggman and spoke with frustration, "Using cheap tricks to win? I expected more from you doctor."

"I've come too far in my plan to let anything go wrong." His voice had a bit of sarcasm, "So forgive me if using smart tactics against you seems cheap."

'_Tails... HURRY!_' Shadow looked at Dash and noticed a hint of fear in his eyes.

'_It's that hedgehog, Shadow. How did he escape?_' Dash looked at him.

'_You don't remember him?_' Sonic asked.

'_No. Should I?_' Dash remained still

'_Yeah! He took us in when Eggman turned me into a baby. He's practically your dad!_' Sonic spoke matter of factly.

'_Dad?_' Dash tried to remember anything that involving Shadow acting fatherly and his eyes widened, '_That day, when_ _we fought, he hugged me. Did he call me son?_' Dash held his head and Eggman watched, waiting for his suspisions to be confirmed.

"Dash! Don't let yourself be controlled!" Shadow yelled, "You know who I am, I can see it in your eyes! You want to be free from him!"

Dash held his head tighter, "Dad?"

Eggman only watched as he saw the control he had was starting to slip, "Enough of this." He looked up, "Eggmorpher, finish Shadow off. He's been nothing but a bother."

The snake whipped it's tail under Shadows feet and whacked Rouge out of the air to stop any interferance. Shadow barely evaded the coil and caught Rouge.

"Dad!" Dash tried to run towards him but the chain held him down, "Listen Eggman, you will..."

"You're in no position to give orders." Eggman pressed a button on his carrier making Dash's eyes go small, his eyes rolled up as he heard a scream in his head and fell unconcious on the floor.

"Dash! What did you do this time Eggman!?" Shadow yelled, '_FOX! What is taking you so long!_'

"Remember, his brain is fully robotisized," Eggman spoke, but the concept didn't hit Shadow, "In other words, I can shut him off at will and leave him, for lack of better words, in snooze mode."

'_He really is a puppet..._' Shadow stayed still.

"Shadow! You have to move!" Rouge closed her eyes when the snake opened its mouth and prepared to swallow Shadow.

"Got it!" The snake froze in mid air and began to move into the hole it appeared from.

"Annoying runt..." Eggman took this as a cue to leave, "I'll be seeing you soon, as for Dash, next time you see him you'll barely recognize him. Ho Ho Ho Ho Ho!" His carrier dissapeared and his laughter carried in the wind.

"Come back!" Shadow raced after him but lost sight of him when he dissapeared into the clouds, "For CHAOS sakes! I will find you Eggman! And when I do, you're gonna regret messing with my family!"

His anger wouldn't pass and he felt a sharp sting behind his eyes. He felt a hand on each shoulder and saw Rouge on his left and Tails on his right. He sighed and stayed quiet.

"We'll save him and the others." Tails spoke quietly as he stared up at Shadows direction.

"That we can promise. No matter how long it takes." Rouge added.

"Let's get back to the lab. I'll track down the others and then we'll take on Eggman." A soft beeping sound came in on Tails's gadget. But he ignored it.

"How did you manage to get control of the snake?" Rouge asked.

"I wasn't able to take control of it, but I was able to overide it's memory banks and force it back to Eggman's lair. He pulled out all the stops on this one. Which means we need to up our game."

Rouge seemed to hesitate a bit before saying something no one would imagine, "Hear me out on this." She looked at Shadow specifically, 'I hope I'm not asking for an early funeral on this...' She cleared her throat, "What if we joined forces with G.U.N.?"  
Shadow snapped before Tails opened his mouth, "NO WAY! Those poor excuses of human beings can rot before I even work with them again!"

"But Shadow..." Rouge was cut off.

"Their technology could be useful for us to find the others!" Tails exclaimed, "I know you have bad blood with them but what other choice do we have? For all we know, my lab could've been destroyed by Eggman."

"How would you know?" Shadow glared.

Tails looked down sadly, "You see this little bulb?" Shadow looked at the flashing red bulb on Tails's gadget, "This means that my lab was infiltrated. We can check to see if anything survived but... I'm not too hopeful..."

Shadow let out a very frustrated growl, "Let's go then..."

All three took off and remained silent through the thick atmosphere.

**With Eggman **

The carrier began to desend as two well hidden metal doors opened from the ground.

'_What a pain... Now I have to figure out why the chip isn't doing its job and incrypt more things into the Eggmorpher._'

He looked down at Dash, 'The robotization of his body is taking longer than expected. I'll be sure to fix that problem.' He summoned his Eggbots, "Take him to the lab and strap him in the containment unit. He won't be able to get out of there."

Dash was taken there in minutes while Eggman started on the Eggmorpher, "Looks like this machine will need to do Dash's job for now. Good thing I built two more of these." He typed and tinkered until the incrytion was perfect, "Let's see the fox get through this coding." Satisfied, he activated them and walked off to the other lab to solve his second issue, 'Who needs sleep when world conquest is just within my grasp.' He arrived to a screen and pulled out a map, 'Nearly all of them have sworn their allegiance to me and the others who havn't will be destroyed soon enough. What should I build in their place?'

He walked over to Dash's unconcious form, '_Maybe I should deactivate him as soon as I have full control of the world_ _and place him at the top of my throne as a trophy._' He smirked at the idea, 'And if anyone from my empire disobeys, I'll reactivate him and use him to punish the law breakers.' He chuckled as he pressed a button to reactivate him.

Dash's eyes snapped open, "Where am I? Why can't I move?"

"Just a place where I intend to fix you."

"Fix me?" Dash cocked his head to the right.

"That's right. You've been very disobedient and I need to see what is causing that particular problem."

Dash remained silent, he didn't know what to say.

'_This is bad! Dash, listen, you have to get out of here!_' Sonic yelled.

'_We're strapped down... and my body doesn't want to fully respond._' Dash squirmed a bit.

'_Try harder!_' Sonic couldn't believe one of his alter egos would make excuses, '_Why are you so...?'_ Sonic was surprised to hear a light sob.

'_I'm sorry dad._' Dash looked over where Eggman was to see what he was doing, '_Sorry I wasn't strong enough._' He shut his eyes trying to hold in any tears that tried to escape.

'_Don't say that. You can't give in. Not like this. We will get out of here. I know we will._' Sonic tried to find a light at the end of this tunnel but every idea he had was trashed, '_How did I allow myself to get controlled? Why did I check that_ _dumb missile?_'

"Crying?" An annoyed voice came in, "Now I know my control over you is slipping."

Dash continued his silence.

"Not talking?" He mused, "Funny how you went from an arrogant, cocky hedgehog to a broken down toy."

'_I will break free Eggman! Just you wait!_' Sonic felt his anger boil.

"Now then," Eggman attached wires to the azure fur, specifically to the glowing blue stripes on his quills, "This won't hurt a bit." The various wires were connected to a computer and the minute Eggman pressed a button, Dash's eyes went vacant. Each program analyzed his brain like if it were a standard computer.

"Let's see now," Eggman sat down and after analysing the data he recieved, he realized something, "That pesky rodent just wont give up!" He slammed his hand on the table, "You won't win hedgehog!"

"That's what you think Eggman." The said doctor turned and saw Sonic strapped down agaist a wall on the screen.

"You're in no position to say such things hedgehog. In fact," He typed various codes and key words, "You'll never be able to reach out to Dash again!" He pressed a button and on the screen, Sonic saw himself slowly being robotisized.

"NO!" Sonic tried to push the feeling away, but to no avail. The struggling stopped when his body was fully robotisized.

"Don't think I'm so cruel Sonic. I want you to see everything I do so you could slowly tear yourself apart inside. You are free to think what you wish. But speaking it is a whole different story." The robot remained tied to the metal binds, "I said my Empire would rise and I will see this through hedgehog."

After endless hours of more coding and typing, he reactivated Dash. The process nearly robotisized his whole body. His arms, legs, stomach, and his quills were pure metal. The only thing that wasn't robotisized was his face and his chest. He rose after being freed and bowed. The eyes remained vacant, not even a shred of recognition of spark withing them and the blue streaks glowed brighter than ever.

"What are my orders Master?" His voice had a hint of a robotic tone. Eggman was pleased with his tireless work and smiled gleefully as he spoke, "I think G.U.N. has overstayed their welcome. Crush them like the roaches they really are."

Dash saluted and raced off. He didn't hear the other voice that was blocked away in his head, '_This isn't over Eggman. I'll find a way out of this. I always do._' Sonic closed his eyes and without wasting time, began planning his escape.

**SuperSonicSpeed: That ends this chapter. :)  
**

**Sonic: I DON'T ESCAPE!?  
**

**Shadow: Didn't think she would make it easy...  
**

**Sonic: So what now?  
**

**SuperSonicSpeed: We'll see next chapter. :) Thank you everyone for reading! And Thank you for the reviews! I gotta know! What did you guys think? Was this expected? Unexpected? Likes? Dislikes? Is this whole mind control thing overated now? Please tell me what you wish to see in this story. :) I'll be more than happy to listen to your opinions. And if you have any ideas of what Eggman should build, feel free to leave your creative comments in the reviews. ALSO, I will be posting up a new story up along with this chapter. It was just something that occured to me while playing one of the Sonic games. So feel free to check it out and let me know what ya'll think. :) Again, Thank you so much for reading and I'll see everyone next chapter.  
**

**Sonic: Well in my opinion, hm? HEY! Where'd everyone go! **


	14. Eggman's Control

**SuperSonicSpeed: WOO! Ralik knows how to throw a party! **

**Shadow: If you like that sort of thing, then sure. **

**Sonic: You two left me! **

**Shadow: You got a chilidog from Ralik... *Mumbles* Now I remember why I went... **

**Sonic: Well! Who needs you! OptimisticQueenRandom gave me a food machine and I get to- Are you listening?! *Gets hit by a tomato* SCOURGE! **  
**  
SuperSonicSpeed: Did you get a chance to try the cake? **

**Shadow: As a matter of fact, I got the last piece. **

**SuperSonicSpeed: Oh really, cuz I also happened to have gotten the last piece. Only when I turned around it was gone. **

**Shadow: Hmph... She doesn't own us! Start! **

**SuperSonicSpeed: Don't you start ignoring me! **

**Sonic: Touch my chilidogs SuperSonicSpeed and I'll bite your hand off! **

**SuperSonicSpeed: Speacial thanks to Princess Flare the Fox for inspiring me with her ideas! :D Appreciate it! **

"It's all gone..." Tails looked at what used to be his laboratory and his home.

Shadow kicked aside a few pieces of scrap that layed on the floor while Rouge observed and pieced together what had happened.

"It's like he used a small version of the Eclipse Canon..." Rouge looked at the burnt ground, "There's barely any melted metal."

Tails sighed, "I can always replace it... But it's sorta hard to see your lifes work utterly anihalated..." He looked around once more, "The Tornado didn't make it either." He looked down.

"Shadow, this only shows that we have no choice but to-" Rouge stopped when Shadow gave an icy glare.

"I said 'No' plenty of times already." He looked away.

"Will you stop being stubborn!" Tails snapped, "We've lost everyone and everything! Who knows what Eggman is doing to Dash right now! Don't you see! If we don't join forces with G.U.N. then it's only a matter of time until Eggman catches us!"

Shadow didn't say a word.

"Please," Tails calmed down, "Do it for Dash... and Maria! Don't you remember the promise you made to her? If we don't join forces, then your promise to protect this planet will be meaningless."

'_Annoying fox..._' Shadow grit his teeth. "Fine!" He reached into his quills for his chaos emerald to find out, it was gone. "Looks like we're tarveling by foot."

"WHAT!?" Rouge exclaimed, "I thought you had an emerald!"

"I must've lost it in the fight..." Shadow began heading towards G.U.N. headquarters.

"Why don't we use that?" Tails pointed to one direction.  
"A helicopter? Here?" Rouge walked over with Tails.

"It looks a bit shaky, but it should get us to G.U.N. headquarters." Tails tinkered a bit, "It may take me a bit to fix it."

Shadow rolled his eyes and kicked the front side lightly, making the motor come to life. Then, ran around the helicopter at high speeds to get the perpelars going.

Shadow gave a smug look, "Get in."

Tails only huffed as he sat on the copilot seat, "Since when are you a mechanic?"

"He isn't." Tails looked at Rouge, "You should see all the dents I have on my car." She sweat dropped, "I should've just taken it to a mechanic."

Tails looked at Shadow who piloted the helicopter, "So is kicking your solution to all mechanics?"

Rouge laughed, "Not really. His motorcycle is dent free."

"And it'll stay dent free because if anyone aside from me touches it, I'll Chaos Control them to the moon."

Tails smiled for the first time since this entire incident started, "Did Dash try to touch it?"

"I caught him making motor noises and pretending to drive it." Shadow had a sad smile, "I have the pictures in my wallet." He took out the wallet from his quills and gave it to Tails. Sure enough, there were three pictures of a five year old blue hedgehog on a motorcycle. One had his lips puckered as he made the motor sounds. Eyes fully concentrated on the road. The second one showed his eyes completely wide as he realized he was caught 'riding' his fathers motorcycle. The last one showed a full blown smile as he waved at the camera with one hand still on one of the bars.

Tails and Rouge awed and when they turned around, noticed Shadow was looking away.

"We'll get him back." Tails said determined, "The good guys always win! Right?"

Shadow was about to say something when a beeping sound went off.

"The propellers stopped! We're going down!" Tails yelled.

"You don't think I know that!?" Shadow yelled back.

"We need to get off!" Rouge raised her voice.

"What!?" Tails looked wide eyed.

Shadow was struggling to keep the helicopter up right, "Use your Tails fox!"

Tails facepalmed as Rouge suggested, "You grab one of Shadow's arms and I'll grab the other."

Tails agreed and both grabbed Shadow and flew out. The helicopter spun out of control and crashed straight into G.U.N.s weapons department.

"Think they'll be mad?" Tails asked as the fire made some the weapons fire. A huge crowd of soilders ran with water buckets and tried to put out the fire. Each one held and angry look on their face.

Shadow smirked, "Nope."

"Always the kidder..." Rouge spoke sarcastically as they flew past the smoke and towards the G.U.N. Commanders whereabouts.

**With The Commander**

"A helicopter does NOT appear out of thin air! Find out where it came from!" The Commander was already stressed with Eggman's world domination, he didn't need to know that they now had no back ups for their weapons.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, "Experiments can me such failures."

"Hmph... If we're such failures, then why did G.U.N. come after me all those years ago?"

The Commander turned to see Shadow, Rouge, and Tails standing at the doorway, "What are you doing here!?"

"I'm only here to observe." Shadow leaned against the door frame and closed his eyes with his arms crossed.

Rouge and Tails gave him a light glare but Shadow didn't even notice.

'_Such a drama king..._' Rouge sighed, "We came to offer our assisstance in taking down Eggman."

"We don't need your help!" The Commander spat. An explosion was heard echoed.

"Are you sure?" Tails asked.

"My word is absolute!" The Commander heard more yells outside.

Shadow smirked, "Let's go. It's obvious that the Commander's ego has surpassed the size of his brain." He was about to walk out when he began hearing the yelling turning into sudden screams of terror.

The alarms began to blare and a soldier limped in with a broken leg, "Sir! Project: Speed. He-" The soldier passed out infront of Shadow. The name Project: Speed made his eye twitch.

"Still don't need our help?" He glared at the Commander.

"Fine!"

"Hm... I don't really like that tone." Shadow began walking out.

"We don't have time for this!" Both Rouge and Tails yelled.

Shadow ignored them and continued walking.

"Please help us Shadow." The Commander finally spoke.

"And?"

"AND WHAT!?"

Shadow started walking away again.

"WAIT!" The Commander growled, "And we were wrong for taking Dash."

"And?"

"Shadow! Stop milking it and go!" Rouge yelled.

He rolled his eyes and took off towards the screaming.

As he arrived to the scene, he was met by soldiers clinging to their lives on the floor. Some had deep wounds while others had broken bones, '_This is a lot more severe than before. Dash never went this far even though he was under Eggman's_ _control. Did Eggman already-_' His thoughts were interupted when he dodged a sudden barrrage of Chaos Spears.

"You are opposed to my masters perfect Eutopia." Dash's arm morphed into a cannon, "Prepare to be exterminated."

Though it didn't look like it, Shadow was horrified at the sight of Dash, '_He's almost a full blown robot! Even his voice is_ _starting to sound like Omega's! Eggman went too far with this!_' He noticed the metal slowly creaping up to Dash's neck and how the metal on his head made a metalic blue widows peak.

"Dash! Look at yourself!" Dash didn't respond, instead, the mini cannon began to glow.

Shadow barely dodged the blast, '_How is he making the blast so fast?_' Dash upper cut the Ultimate Lifeform and as he got ready for a second hit, Shadow dissapeared. Dash looked around and suddenly kicked making Shadow hit a nearby building. The smoke eventually cleared and the ebony hedgehog got ready.

"Your Chaos Control is obsolete." Dash's eyes began to glow, but Shadow thought nothing of it, until a small laser came towards him, hitting his arm. He hissed, "I see someone got an upgrade."

Dash said nothing and the two began to clash over and over. Each punch Shadow gave made his knuckles feel like they were going to tear. Eventually, Dash overpowered him and he pinned him against a wall by the neck. Slowly he lifted Shadow higher and higher, "Goodbye, Shadow the Hedgehog." The neck snapped like a twig at the sudden force and he collapsed on the floor.

Dash never heard the voice in his head, "SHADS! GET UP! You ALWAYS brag about being the strongest! GET! UP!" Sonic was crushed at seeing what his new ego had done, 'Not Dash," he reminded himself, "It's what Eggman is making him do. Or rather... us.'

Dash began to walk away but stopped when he heard,

"Never send an android to do your job."

Dash turned to see that the Shadow he had eliminated had metal pieces sticking out of his neck.

Shadow smirked and stood proudly infront of the android, "You really don't think the Ultimate Lifeform would die so easily."

Sonic ears perked up and was relieved at hearing Shadow's voice, "You overcocky, overconfident jerk!" He waited to see how things played out, "I'm almost done with my plan Shadow! Keep it up!"

"New target aquired. The real Shadow." Dash took a stance.

"Chaos Control!" Shadow once again dissappeared. The robot hedgehog once again looked around and aimed at one point. This time, he missed. Shadow kicked the side of his head and sent him flying into a different building, "I figured out a way to get passed your trick. Now why don't you show me what else you can do." Shadow began charging up a Chaos Spear.

Dash seemed unfazed. No emotion within those ruby eyes. Shadow began to feel sympathy, '_NO! If I let my emotions_ _get the better of me I won't win and I'll be stuck in the same circumstance as last time._'

Dash charged and jumped high above Shadow. Shadow threw his spears but noticed that even though it was a direct hit on Dash's arm, they were being sucked into the metal. His arm began to liquify and cover Shadow. When Shadow realized what was going on, the metal had hardened.

Shadow struggled as the metal creeped over his face. He got an idea on how to get out but, '_Will it obliterate Dash? No,_ _not if I'm in full control_.' He began to glow red, "Chaos Blast!" The blast blew away the liquid metal that covered him. When he turned around, Dash was missing a robotic arm.

'_If I'm correct,_' As if on cue, Dash's arm reformed from the liquid metal that wasn't destroyed. What he wasn't counting on was that the metal began to cover his muzzle, '_Only the outside of his eyes are left..._' Shadow didn't know what he could do for his son. 'Is there even a cure for robotization to this extent?'

"PUT HIM OUT OF HIS MISERY SHADOW!" The G.U.N. Commander yelled.

"Easy for you to say!" Shadow sneered, "I refuse to kill my own son!"

Dash looked up and saw his real target. He quickly dissapeared leaving Shadow completely lost when he looked back down from his distraction, '_Where did he go?_'

**With the Commander, Rouge, and Tails**

"He dissapeared!" Tails panicked.

"But where did he dissapear to?" Rouge looked around.

"Behind us!" The Commander yelled.

Dash walked up to them slowly, his hand morphing into a, projector? He pointed it to a wall and a dim light appeared. Eggman appeared as he laughed meniachally, "Hello Commander," Eggman fiddled with his overgrown mustache, "How do you like my ultimate weapon?"

"Get to the point and tell us what you want!" The Commander yelled.

"I see the destruction has put you in a bad mood." Eggman leaned back on his chair, "What I want is you to surrender to me."

"You should know my answer to that." The Commander said agressively.

"Too bad." Eggman frowned, "I was feeling so merciful." He looked at Dash, "Activate them all." The image dissapeared and Dash's blue streaks began to glow.

"Activating Sequence: Spring Cleaning." A countdown started.

Shadow ran in, "Time to go!"

"Dash is-" Tails began.

"I heard everything. Now hold on." Shadow began to get ready for a Chaos Control.

"What about my men?" The Commander yelled.

"3, 2, 1..."

"They're safe!"

"0" Dash vanished as explosions echoed throughout the base.

"CHAOS CONTROL!" He spoke quickly.

When the explosions finished, the base was nothing but fire and rubble.

About a mile away from the base, everyone who was saved watched as the smoke rised.

"Shadow? How did you Chaos Control? You don't have an emerald." Tails inquired.

"I found this in the base while I activated an android version of myself." He took out a red Chaos Emerald.

"No way! I thought Eggman had that one!" Rouge snatched the gem and looked at it. She then made a disgusted face, "UGH! It's a fake!" She threw it back to Shadow, "You know how I feel about fake jewelery!"

"Commander, why were you developing these in the lab?" Shadow asked.

He sighed, "It was an accident. We were trying to develop something that would weaken Project: Sp-"

"Dash. His name is Dash." Shadow glared.

"Fine, We were trying to find a weakness in Dash and we figured we'd try to develop a hollow emerald to absorb the chaos energy he uses. But instead, we created one that almost matched the power of an original emerald."

"Why didn't I think of that!?" Everyone looked at Tails, "How do you think the metal can liquify and solidify by at will?"

"You mean..."

"Yes, he has the Chaos Emeralds! All of them!" Tails yelled.

"Wouldn't he have gone super by now?" Asked Rouge.

"Not if he wants to keep them hidden."

"Then we need to find a way to get them back." Shadow turned around when he heard a humming sound, "I'll be back."

Shadow ran towards a boulder structure out of view from the rest, there he saw Dash sitting down and looking up at the sky.

'_Odd, why would he?_'

"Come in Dash..."

Dash stood up and looked at his communicator, "What is my directive master?"

Shadow flinched at the word 'master'.

"Why are you wasting time?"

"I was waiting for any survivors."

"Just leave them and continue on to the next base. We have little time to destroy all their bases. I already sent my 3 Eggmorphers to pick up the slack. Now go!"

Dash nodded ending the transmission and was about to take off when he stopped, "I know you're there."

Shadow appeared from behind the boulder, "Then why didn't you try to attack me?"

"That is not my current mission." Dash looked at him dead on and that's when Shadow saw his eyes succumb to the metal. His thoughts were interupted, "But I will destroy you when the time is right."

Dash raced off in a blur, but the sight of his cold eyes remained in Shadow's mind.

Over the course of a few days, G.U.N. bases were being destroyed worldwide. Nothing would be left except for rubble and smoke. There would be survivors because Shadow would confront Dash long enough to get everyone to safety. Tails continued incrypting the Eggmorphers, but each time always seemed to get harder and harder. Eggman built statues, empires, parks, cities, everything that could be both possible and impossible with his signature image. Even food brands were forced to put Eggman the image.

Shadow was running through the city when an announcement began to air to the public,

Eggman sat on his throne and next to him, was a fully robotisized Dash.

"The day I've waited for, for so long has finally arrived. Welcome everyone, to my Eggman empire." The robots in his base cheered as he stood and bowed, "Now then, my rules are very simple, if anyone tries to rebel against my perfect eutopia, they will be severely punished." He looked at Dash and back to the camera, "But, i do have a bit of good news for you, my citizens" Everyone looked up anciously, "Dash will be shut down." Shadow felt hurt as everyone cheered at what would seem, the end of his son.

'_Why would anyone cheer at someones stolen freedom?_' He just couldn't understand how cold people were. Then again, did anyone know about Dash's situation?

Eggman cleared his throat to get everyones attention, "You didn't let me finish," A smile crawled up on his face, "He will only be reactivated to carry out your punishments." Everyone went silent as they imagined Dash's wrath, "Not so happy now are we? HOHOHO! And even better news, Eggbots! Secure the city! Make sure no one disobeys my rules!"

Everyone began to run away as robots charged into the vity, but Shadow only looked at the screen as Dash jumped above the thrown.

"I CAN"T BE SHUT DOWN!" Sonic was panicking, "I don't wanna be a lifeless form! Dash! Snap out of it! DASH!"

Dash never heard him, instead he stood like a statue saluting his master and was shut down. The screen of his eyes went completely black. Through Shadow's eyes, this was Eggman's way of mocking him, like if he were saying, 'Your son helped me do this.' or, 'He'll never come back to you again' or worse, 'He is mine to command, my eternal puppet and slave'.

The screen in the city turned to static and rules of the empire began to roll on the screen.

He clenched his fists, '_He never deserved this._' Shadow looked at the chaos around him as robots chased the humans around. "Mark my words Eggman! I'll make sure your empire falls! And Dash will be standing by my side when I do it!"

Everyone stopped and looked at him as if he were insane, but Shadow paid no attention to them, instead he began to race towards their hideout to report what he had just seen.

**SuperSonicSpeed: Time for bed!**

**Sonic: You've stayed up later than this.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Yeah, but I learned that I actually need my sanity to keep writing. Besides, this is probably the one chapter I kept adding, taking out, correcting, and rewriting cuz I just wasn't satisfied.**

**Shadow: *Walking by* Don't think about Sonic EXE *Chuckles***

**Sonic: Wha?**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Don't remind me! There goes my sleep. ANYWAYS! Please review! Hopefully you enjoyed this Chapter. I'd like to thank EVERYONE who's read this story, reviewed, favorited, followed, helped me, THANK YOU! So so much! I truly appreciate it. Without ya'll, I wouldn't be writing, from the deepest part of my heart, thank you! So, what do you think of Eggman finally building his empire? Is it hard to believe he got this far? Or how about the fact that he just shut down Dash? And some of you must be wondering, why did I name this story Child's Play? I'm not sure how many more chapters there will be but I know I'm going to have to pull out all the stops for the finale. I suck at writing major battle scenes (or any as a matter of fact), so if you have any ideas, feel free to tomato I MEAN pm me or leave your creative ideas in the reviews. I will give you credit! Hm, I'm already talking finale... Let's see how many chapters I post after this. Start counting!**

**Sonic: How about, "And Dash fell from the top of the thrown and knocked out Eggman in one hit thus saving the world."**

**SuperSonicSpeed: O.O The readers deserve better.**

**Shadow: *Facepalm* Leave the creative writing to SSS faker.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Til next time!**


	15. Hope

**SuperSonicSpeed: Refresh buttons are evil...**

**Shadow: Don't tell me, you hit the button after typing a part of the story, thus deleting your work.**  
**  
SuperSonicSpeed: Didn't know einstein was back.**

**Sonic: Tails?!**

**SuperSonicSpeed: -.-**

**Shadow: She doesn't own us.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: That's right I don't!**

**Sonic: Wait! Since you don't own us, why are we here?**

**Shadow: Good point Faker. Let's go.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE! TT-TT ... ****Super Special Thank you's to Sonilver234 and SylverEclipse for giving me some ideas towards the story! Writers block is OFFICIALLY GONE so this is going to be a straight shot. :D AGAIN, Thank you all and also thank you readers. I was originally going to upload tomorrow but, you guys deserve it now. ENOUGH HOLD UPS! START! **

Shadow raced into the hidden headquarters and saw everyone standing infront of a static screen.

"You saw too."

"Yeah." Tails spoke teary eyed and choked, "He won..."

Shadow grabbed Tails's shoulder and made him look at him straight in the eyes, "Get a hold of yourself!" Shadow almost yelled, "We havn't lost until he's wiped out all of us." He looked at everyone else, "We need a plan, and a good one."

"Do you have any?" The Comander asked.

"As a matter of fact," Shadow looked at the fake chaos emerald he had, "I do." He looked at Tails, "Did you manage to understand the mechanism I gave you that drains Chaos Energy?"

"Sort of," Tails took out some blue prints, "There's something missing though."

"What is?"

"Something that can retain the Chaos Energy."

Shadow tossed him the fake chaos emerald, "That should do."

"But how will we drain the energy of all seven?!"

Shadow ignored his question, "I need you to build the chaos drain within the fake emerald."

"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"

"Dash is depending on you!"

Tails quieted down, "I'll need a lot of time."

"Just try to make it fast. Meanwhile, I'll search for the others."

"Have you found any of them?"

"No," Shadow looked at the locator on his wrist, "But I'm pretty sure if I tweak this a bit more, I'll be able to find him soon." He looked at the Commander, "Until then, your soldiers will have to keep going out to fight back."

Shadow turned his back, but paused when he heard the Commander, "We've lost many of our men."

"And I'll be sure to not allow their sacrifice go in vain."

The Commander slammed his fist against a table, "Why didn't you destroy Dash when you had the chance!?" Shadow remained silent, "WELL?!"

"Because to me, it would be like if I were killing off Maria."

The Commander's eye twitched, "Don't you DARE compare that abomination to Mari-!" The Commander fell to his knees, eyes wide from being punched right in the stomach.

Shadow glared daggers at the Commander but said nothing, '_I'd only waste my breath if I tried to explain._' He began walking toward his room.

"You just _love _to make him angry, don't you?" Rouge made a side glace at the Commander.

"That menace-" The Commander was interupted.

"His son," Tails began to measure the fake emerald, "and believe it or not, we _want _to save him from Eggman."

Everyone went back to what they were doing, ignoring the grumbling Commander.

**Eggman's Empire**

"Even after warning them, they _still_ disobey me." Eggman looked at the list of names of people that were being held in the prisons. A wide grin appeared on his face, "Get the cameras ready!"

Two robots saluted and left Eggman to his thoughts, '_Looks like Dash has a bit of work to do._' He began to laugh, "And Sonic has a front row seat for all of it!" He rubbed his hands together, "After this, no one will defy me. As for Shadow and his alliance, well, I have a speacial surprise for them."

His laughter grew louder and echoed throughout the corridors.

**With Shadow and The Others**

"Got it!" Shadow finally managed to pinpoint the location of one of his team imprisoned mates, '_Now to test it out._'

Shadow came out of his room and saw Tails assembling the fake chaos emerald.

"So you did manage to insert the chaos drain in it."

Tails kept his eyes on his work, "Yeah. But it still needs _a lot_ of tweaking."

"It's still something." Shadows locator beeped.

"You got it to work!"

"Yes, and within a few hours, we'll have someone back."

Tails ripped his sight away from his work, "Only one?"

"Believe me, once we get him back. It'll be a lot easier to find the others."

"You mean you found-!"

"Possibly. I'll be back so-"

'_We interupt our broadcast for a special announcement from our ruler._'

Everyone ran to the screen and began to watch.

The camera zoomed in to Eggman's face, "Greetings my fellow subjects."

The expressions on the viewers faces went serious.

"It has come to my attention that many still resist me and my perfect world." The camera began to zoom out revieling chained captives kneeling on the floor. Each one with a stare of defiance. Eggman gestured above him, "Let this be a lesson to all of you who still wish to defy me. Dash! Reactivate!"

The robots eyes flickered on, vivid red piercing the viewers eyes. He looked at Eggman, "What is it that you wish my master."

"YOU'LL NEVER BREAK US!" One of the mobians stood yelling at Eggman. He turned to the camera, "Mobians! Don't let fear take you! Believe in those who fight for our freedom!"

"How touching... Dash, get rid of them."

Dash pounced at a very high speed and screams errupted through the speakers of radios and t.v.'s.

"Shadow! What do we do!? We have to do something!" Tails cried.

Shadow only closed his eyes and looked away, '_I can't believe what he's making_ _Dash do!_'

Many people had turned away and only looked back when the screaming was no longer heard. Surprise struck the ones that looked away when they saw no sign of the mobians that were once there. While the ones who saw, shook and held their loved ones close.

Dash jumped back to the pedestal above.

'_EGGMAN!_' Sonic's frustration was getting the better of him, '_Dash! What's it gonna take to get you to listen!_' Sonic began to see the light inside being replaced with the darkness again, '_We're being shut down again..._' He let his head fall, '_I hope the others can comeup with something fast. I don't know how much of this I can take._' Unconciouness took over and the shut down sequence was complete.

"Enjoy your day." Eggman laughed and the program that was previously running came back on.

"Eggman's glasses imporium. Where you can get the latest style and-"

"Shut it off." Shadow spoke, "I'll be back a bit after night fall."

"Careful." Rouge picked up a small backback and threw it to Shadow, "You may need this."

Shadow nodded and as soon as the backpack was on, took off.

"Think he'll be ok?" Tails asked.

"I'm sure he will. Do you need me to find anymore parts for your gizmo there?" Rouge smiled.

"No. I think I have all I need." Tails continued his current project.

**With Eggman**

"Where would you like to put the new roboticized mobians?" Decoe asked.

Eggman leaned his face to one hand, "Put them as gaurd patrol on a different location. We already made everyone believe that they've deceased."

"How did you manage to pull it off?" Asked Bocoe.

Eggman smirked, "Nothing but smoke and mirrors. Plus, I made the robotization 10 times more painful. All who disobey feel their skin slowly turning to pure metal along with a burning sensation that'll make volcano lava seem like a fresh pool."

Bocoe and Decoe bowed and dissapeared.

Eggman sighed as he looked at his watch. Almost night fall.

**With Shadow**

Shadow reached a deep side of the dessert. Sweat covered his face at the scorching heat.

'_How is it still this hot! It should've cooled down by now!_' Shadow dug through the backpack and found a bottle of water, '_This'll do._' He chugged half of it before putting it back in the bag. A light beeping went off in his tracker, '_I'm nearby._'

He rushed towards the given dirrection and finally found what he was looking for.

"The same position you use while gaurding the Master Emerald."

The red echidna opened his eyes in surprise. He quickly stood up from his sleeping or rather "gaurding" formation and dusted some sand off.

"That coming from the one who claims to be faster than Sonic. What took you so long to find me!?"

Shadow walked over and looked at the prison, '_Pure diamond with that liquid metal add-on._' He looked at Knuckles, "We hit some complications."

"PFFT! Don't we all." Knuckles looked around, "Where's Dash?"

Shadow froze for a few seconds before continuing his inspection, "Eggman... He..." He let out a sigh and held one of the prison bars, "He took him. He's a mindless slave forced to do Eggman's every will."

Knuckles's eyes went wide, "What!? How!? When did this happen!? Have I been stuck here that long!?"

"I'll explain later. Right now, I need to get you out of here before your scheduled visit." A hum was heard in the distance.

"That's them." Knuckles looked towards the horizon, "Hide at th-"

"One step ahead of you echidna."

"Hmph. Same old Shadow."

"Old?" Shadow smirked.

"What, you want pops instead?"

Shadow shot him a glare before lying down at the top of the prison, '_I should've draped a blanket..._' He felt the heat of the metal seeping through his pelt.

A robotic voice spoke, "Knuckles the Echidna, here is your food and water ration."

Knuckles only glared and ignored them. The eggbots began checking the perimeter and noticed a black quill on the floor.

"Scanning DNA..." Shadow cursed himself when he peaked at the robot, '_Since when do my quills fall off!_'

"DNA confirmed, Shadow the Hedg-" The robot tumbled and broke to pieces along side its companion.

"We have to hurry." Shadow threw chaos spears at the bars.

"There's more coming!" Knuckles began punching the bars.

"At the same time echidna!" A mini explosion was created and before Knuckles jumped out, Shadow had already grabbed his arm and ran as fast as he could. Angry Echidna and all.

"Where are we going?!"

"Angel Island!" Gun fire began to errupt.

"How are we going to get there?" Knuckled ducked.

"You use chaos energy right?!"

"What about it!"

"CHAOS CONTROL!"

The robots that hunted them down scanned the area, only ditecting the use of chaos energy.

**Angel Island**

"The master emerald!" Knuckles ran over to inspect it, "How? I thought Eggman would've gotten it. Or Rouge."

"I got Rouge to gaurd it actually," Shadow walked over to the emerald and touched it, '_Finally an energy source._' He looked at Knuckles, "I need you to find the others." He began walking away, feeling refreshed with the new chaos energy, "As soon as you find them," He threw him a comunicator, "contact us and we'll get them out of the prisons."

"We'll? Whose on our side?"

"Tails, Rouge, and G.U.N."

"G.U.N.?! They must be desperate."

Shadow grunted and dissapeared, leaving Knuckles with his mission.

**At Secret Location**

'_It's past night fall._' Tails looked at the door, '_Where is he?_'

"How is the emerald coming along?"

Tails jumped at the voice, "Shadow! Where were you!?"

"I saved the Echidna. He should be able to find the rest using the emerald."

Tails's face brightened up as he cheered, "I need to see him! I can't wait to finally talk to-" Something dawned on him, "Didn't Eggman man chaos proof everything."

"No. That's his second mistake."

"Don't tell me. The first was messing with you and Dash?"

"No, the first is him starting this entire mess."

Tails picked up the fake emerald, "Anyways, the emerald is almost complete."

"And the other project?"

"Done."

"Good. Now all we have to do is wait for Eggman to make his next move."

"What are you planning Shadow?"

Shadow only smirked as a transmission came in.

"Shadow come in!" The communicator crackled.

"What is it Echidna?"

"I found them all! Well, sort of."

"HEY KNUCKLES!" Tails yelled a bit to close to Shadow's ear.

Shadow's eyes narrowed, "Sort of?"

"HI TAILS! HOW'S IT GOING!?"

Shadow rolled his eyes, "The task at hand ECHIDNA!"

"Geez! Lighten up! Anyways, I didn't get a specific location, but I did get a general location."

"Good enough. Tell us where."

"East of the Volcanos, West of Green Hill, Desert in the North, and an Island on the South side of the Ocean."

"He wasn't joking when he said he split everyone up." Tails looked at a map.

"Let's go then. The faster we get to them, the faster we can end Eggman's rein. Echidna-"

"You've known me long enough to call me by my name you know!" Knuckles spoke irritable.

Shadow ignored, "We're going to split up into two teams. You can go towards Green Hill and the Desert."

"Fine, but Tails is coming with-"

Rouge grabbed Shadow's wrist, "No way handsome, I'm coming with you."

She quickly stopped the transmission and let go of Shadow's wrist. He gave her a glare as he rubbed his wrist while Tails gave a slight chuckle.

"I'll see you later boys." Rouge winked as she flew away.

"Let's get going."

Tails nodded and boarded one of his customized planes. Their destination, the Volcano.

**SuperSonicSpeed: And I'm afraid this is where I end my chapter.**

**Shadow: About time.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: MEANIE! *looks at readers* Thank you everyone for reading, reviewing, favoriting, following, and for supporting! :) I love all your reviews! So keep them coming! Until next time amigos, mon amies, friends, amici, freunde, and every other language out there! Hey, I thought you and Sonic left?**

**Sonic: I heard you were making chilidogs and Shadow heard you had a Chaos Emerald hidden somewhere.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: No I don't! *hides it* hehehehehehe...**

**Shadow: *Smirks* If you want to upload next week, I recommend you hand it over.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Hehehehe... If I don't upload next week, you know why. *Runs* SEE YAH! **

**Shadow: Get back here!**

**Sonic: No Shadow! AT LEAST wait until she makes the chilidogs!**


	16. Deception or Reality?

**SuperSonicSpeed: I survived!**

**Shadow: Just tell them you gave me the emerald because you got tired of Sonic yelling chilidogs at you.**

**Sonic: *Munches* What can I say? I was hungry!**

**SuperSonicSpeed: I saw Scourge being dragged off. Did you give him any?**

**Sonic: Nope!**

**Shadow: Figures.**

**Sonic: Hey Shadow, I'll give you this Chaos Emerald if you make SuperSonicSpeed make more chilidogs!**

**Shadow: Deal.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: What happened to the food maker OptimisticQueenRandom gave you!**

**Sonic: It broke... hehe... It didn't withstand the amount of chilidogs I was making it make.**

**Shadow: She doesn't own us. Now then, *hands glow* Is this gonna be the easy way? Or the hard way?**

**SuperSonicSpeed: *Runs***

**Shadow: Start! **

"Looks like Eggman bumped up security."

Shadow and Tails managed to pinpoint Espio's location in the volcanoes.

"So much for being stealthy." Shadow studied each robot from the plane above, "By the looks of things, they haven't seen us." He stood up.

"You aren't seriously going to jump off the plane!" Tails looked down, "It's too high for-"

Shadow pointed at the parachute on his back.

"You could've said something before you know..." Tails spoke flatly.

"Stay nearby. If things go wrong, we'll need a quick escape."

"You got it!"

Shadow jumped and felt the wind crash at his face. But it still didn't compare to the wind he felt while running at the speed of sound. He pulled the string and felt the sudden jolt that slowed him down. Slowly, he descended to the side of the volcano and hit the floor with a thud.

'_Now then,_' He looked at his locator, '_This isn't possible. I'm right above him?_' He looked up at saw the opening of the volcano, '_Only Eggman... Only Eggman._' He progressed and had his suspicion confirmed, '_He's on the side, but how do I get to him?_' He noticed a small path, '_That's convenient..._' He held on tight to the ledge as he lowered himself, getting ready to jump onto the path.

A loud screech came from below and the edge began to crack. Shadow didn't have time to throw himself to the side and fell onto a few rocks. He hissed at the pain on his side but quickly composed himself and hid behind a few rocks.

'_One of the robots fell into the lava._' He was about to look away when he noticed something else, '_I have to hurry!_'

The idea of stealth was long gone as he shredded the robot guards.

"Shadow!" Espio stood up, "How have-"

"No time for small talk." Shadow began throwing spears at the cage, "The lava is rising, fast. It took out most of the robots on the lower section."

Espio's eyes went wide and he began punching the bars.

"This isn't working!" Shadow ran to the edge and saw the lava coming close, "Go to the furthest part of the cage Espio!"

"What?" He noticed Shadow begin glowing red, '_He wouldn't._'

"CHAOS," Espio ran to the side, "BLAST!" The cage flew into pieces as Espio was thrown against the wall behind him, knocking him out at the collision.

Shadow took out his communicator, "FOX! Bring down the ladder!" As he picked up Espio and put an arm around his shoulder, he felt a sharp stab to his side. He ignored it and pushed forward. Smoke began to rise giving warning to anyone nearby that the volcano was to erupt.

'_That fox better have heard that message,_' Shadow watched as the lava rose faster, '_Or else..._' The threat just hanged when he noticed the smoke getting darker, '_If the lava doesn't get us, the smoke will._' The smoke continued to get thicker and visibility was too low.

'_I over did it with the Chaos Blast, I don't have enough to Chaos Control._' He bumped into something and felt it, '_Wood?_' Shadow tugged and he was slowly being brought up with Espio. When Tails had them safely up, they looked down as the lava pooled from the opening.

"You're welcome." Tails spoke as he flew the plane else where.

Shadow looked at Espio who was barely regaining consciousness.

"Didn't think you'd pull that maneuver off." He rubbed the back of his head.

"Did you want to stay in the cage?"

"Thanks."

Shadow looked at his communicator, "Rouge, how's everything on your end?"

"Easy pickings. We just got Jet out of his prison."

Knuckles voice came screaming in, "EASY PICKINGS!? You only picked the lock! I had to do all the fighting!"

"Well you don't expect me to put myself in harms way when a strong thick headed Echidna could protect me."

"THICK HEADED!"

Jet yelled, "Will you two love birds SHUT IT!"

Knuckles growled, "WHO YOU CALLIN LOVE BIRDS!?"

"The one whose gonna be red and purple all over!"

Shadow face palmed at the arguing on the other end, "You still there Shadow?"

"What's your next location?"

"Green hill. You?"

"South Islands."

"See you in a bit."

Shadow ended the transmission and looked down at the ocean flying below them, '_Dash would love this._'

**With Eggman**

"South Islands and Green Hill, hm?" He smiled wickedly, "It's nice when someone gives you the coding to hack into their receivers," He looked at the 'statue' above him, "right Dash?" He chuckled, "Too bad you have to sit out on all the fun." He began to think, "Then again..."

He pressed a button, "How about a little surprise for your father?" he leaned back, "I'll even let you have the front row seat." He laughed and began to wait for the show to start.

**With Rouge and Knuckles**

"Alright boys, we need to get to the desert region ASAP! So stop bickering and let's go!" Rouge flapped her wings and picked up Knuckles.

"HEY! I can't fly!"

"You're a hawk and you can't fly?" Rouge asked dumbfounded.

Knuckled laughed uncontrollably, "What happened!? Had your wings clipped or something!?"

Rouge dropped Knuckles, "OOF! ROUGE!"

"We need a plane or something."

"Um, Rouge." Knuckles stared at the horizon and his voice began escalating, "I think we have company!"

"What!" Rouge saw dust rising, "EGGMORPHERS!"

They all began to run.

"What do we do?!" Jet yelled from behind, "They're gaining on us!"

Knuckles noticed a button on the side of Jet's shoe, "You idiot! You have your gear!"

Jet looked down and chuckled nervously, "Hehe. Oh yeah." He pressed the small button and his board came flying next to him, "Ready to fly!"

Rouge grabbed Knuckles and took off as well. The Eggmorphers liquefied and began taking a similar shape of G.U.N. jets. Each one bearing the Eggman symbol.

"Can't you fly any faster Rouge!?" Knuckles yelled.

"Yeah! If I drop you!" She hissed.

"Get on my gear!" Rouge nodded and landed, "I was saving this for Sonic, but this is a as good of a chance to test it." A small button appeared at the center front, "Hold on!" The gear blasted off at such a high speed that the jolt almost made all of them fall off. The Eggmorphers still tailed them.

"They're keeping up!" Knuckles yelled.

"There're a few tunnel caves up ahead! Hide there!"

Jet descended at Rouge's command and flew into the tunnel maze. The Eggmorphers liquefied and took their snake forms once again. They began their pursuit.

"Try to stay quiet and keep up the pace. Knowing Eggman, those things have heat detectors." Jet quieted his board and navigated.

"Go left, right, up, left, left, right, and then up." Rouge spoke softly, "That'll lose them and get us out of here."

Jet complied and their escape was a success.

"Shadow! Come in!" Rouge yelled at the communicator.

"I'm a little busy Rouge!"

"Eggmorpher?"

"Yes. Now if you don't mind!"

Tails yelled, "The plane can't handle much more!"

"Just keep moving around. CHAOS SPEAR!"

The wind became stronger over the communicator and eventually just cut itself off.

"SHADOW!" Rouge panicked.

"I'm sure he's fine! We need to get the rest of the crew." Knuckles looked behind him to see Rouge nod.

"Hey," Jet looked behind him, "I'm gonna drop you two off at Green Hill while I find Wave and Storm."

"Alright!"

**With Shadow and Tails**

'_The line cut off! How!?_' Shadow looked at the two planes through the open door behind them and got an idea, "Fox, I'm going to jump in between the two planes and Chaos Blast. As soon as the attack is over, you fly under me and catch me. Got it?"

"Yeah!"

Shadow charged up and jumped through the door, '_That Fox better have good timing,_' he let loose the blast, '_Because this is the last of the chaos energy I have left._'

The two Eggmorphers screeched and began to crumble. Before he fell into unconsciousness, he saw something he prayed wasn't real, '_Dash? It can't be? No it can't be. Not inside the Eggmorpher!_' The bot disintegrated and Shadow felt his body crash into the plane.

"SHADOW!? SHADOW!?" Tails left the plane in auto pilot, "Wake up dude!"

"Dash. Was he?" He couldn't hear Tails's answer and his sight blurred to nothing.

**A few Hours Later**

"DASH!" Shadow's breath was labored. After a bit, he looked around him and saw most of the crew together, "What happened?"

"You used all your Chaos Energy so I got the Master Emerald to give you a boost." Knuckles shrugged, "While you were napping, we got everyone else out. Eggman got sloppy with his supposed unbreakable prisons. It took us longer to track them than destroy them."

"That's not even the half of it," Silver spoke, "Those Eggmorphers got an upgrade."

Shadow was curious, "What do you mean?"

"Heat won't work against them anymore." Blaze entered the conversation.

"WHAT!?"

"I used the strongest flames I had and each one used it as a fire defense. We couldn't get near them."

"If you have a master plan, now is the time to-" Shadow raised his hand and stopped Knuckles.

He turned to Tails and spoke slowly, "Tell me what I saw _wasn't_ Dash."

Everyone's looked at Tails.

"Tell me he _wasn't_ in the Eggmorpher _I_ destroyed." Shadow was trying to control the desperation in his voice.

Tails sighed, "I can't say for sure. I didn't get a good look."

That didn't satisfy Shadow. He grabbed Tails by the shoulders, "ANSWER THE QUESTION! YES OR NO!"

Tails stayed quiet causing the hedgehog to shake him violently, "I'm asking a question!"

"That's enough Shadow!" Knuckles and Espio grabbed him and pulled him away from the fox.

"GET OUT! EVERYONE!"

"Calm down!" Knuckles yelled, "You're losing your grip!"

"You're not the one who possibly killed their son!" Shadow broke out of their hold and glared at Tails, "WHAT DID YOU SEE!?"

Tails just stared at the floor, "I saw a cobalt blue slowly disintegrating. That's it."

Shadow felt himself breaking, his thoughts went back to the day he lost Maria and now... He let out a deep strained sigh and spoke with a deadly, silent tone, "We move to phase 2. Tails, is everything ready?"

Tails nodded, "There are a few more components I need to touch up."

Shadow sighed, sat down, and covered his face with his hands, "Everyone, get some rest."

No one argued. Tails put his hand on Shadows shoulder, "Like I said, I didn't get a clear view. Don't beat yourself up for this if we don't know for sure."

He walked out and heard a soft, "Easy for you to say."

**With Eggman**

A ring was heard coming from the main computer.

"What is it!?" Eggman took a sip of coffee, "Can't you see I'm busy!?"

"It's Shadow. He believes Dash disintegrated with the Eggmorpher." The voice began to show Shadow in his room in the same position everyone left him in.

"Excellent! That hedgehog will be so distracted during the oncoming battle, he'll never know what hit him."

"That, or his rage will make him stronger."

Eggman set his coffee down, "Well, that's why I have you to tell me, don't I?"

"Yes Dr. Eggman."

"Good. Now, stop wasting my time and go figure out what their plan is."

The image nodded and signed out.

"So Sonic, enjoying your front row seat?" Eggman chuckled and looked up at the glowing red eyes above him, "Look's like your 'father' believes you're dead." He laughed as if he heard the best joke in the world, "You've seen how Shadow reacts at the mention of a certain someone," He looked down and scratched his chin, "You think he'll have the same reaction if I were to mention Dash?" He looked up again, "Either way, we both know very well where those emotions lead him." He paused and looked out the window at the glory of his Robotropolis, "It's only a matter of time until they _all_ fall."

'_STOP RUBBING IT IN! I GET IT!_' Sonic wished he could cover his ears, close his eyes, or better yet, _move_, '_I'm COMPLETELY SICK of hearing the same thing over and over!_' Sonic sighed mentally, '_What's worse is the one _helping_ him. Shadow and Dash never deserved this... NO ONE deserves this... I only hope everyone's ready for what Egghead throws next. There's only one way for me to get out of this prison and I _need_ them to get to that._' Sonic's voice turned to determination, '_I REFUSE to lose against an egg! You can count on it! Even you Dash!_'

**SuperSonicSpeed: That's it for today. **

**Shadow: I'll say. *Tosses around two Chaos Emeralds***

**SuperSonicSpeed: *Sticks out tongue* Any who, OMG! Over 100 reviews! Over 40 followers and favorites! PLUS, the traffic graph just blows my mind! Just, WOW! I can't say how thankful I am! But allow me to try, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart! I still have one more surprise or a few for this fic, so stay tuned. ;) Keep them reviews, favorites, and follows coming! Each one excites me more and just get's me writing. **

**Sonic: SO, who do you think the spy is?**

**Shadow: A chilidog in disguise?**

**Sonic: *GASP of GASPS* NEVER!**

**SuperSonicSpeed: I'm not telling!**

**Shadow: Knowing you it's...**

**Sonic: Hey Shadow! Want to see a Chaos Emerald disappear? *Grabs both and runs***

**Shadow: FAKER!**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Til' next time!**


	17. Got A Plan?

**Sonic: *Rubs arm* That's gonna leave a mark... **

**Shadow: Now get back the emeralds Scourge stole!.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Princess Flare the Fox said she would get them.**

**Sonic: Where did you find that one SuperSonicSpeed? **

**Shadow: *Narrows eyes***

**SuperSonicSpeed: I found it on the ground. Finders keepers. **

**Shadow: And you're about to be a weeper. **

**SuperSonicSpeed: I own nothing! START!**

**PS: I HAVE AN IMPORTANT QUESTION FOR EVERYONE AT THE BOTTOM SO PLEASE GIVE IT A LOOK! IT'LL BE IN CAPS. THANK YOU!**

Everyone in the team stepped out of the conference room. Some were nervous, others excited, and others in between.

"I hope Shadow knows what he's doing." Rouge spoke to Tails while leaning against a wall, "It seems a bit risky considering we just got everyone together again."

"It's all we have. If we don't pull out all the stops, then our chances against Eggman are..." He let the sentence hang when he saw the door open.

Shadow was the last to step out of the room. He continued to rub his eyes to get the tired feeling away, but everyone had seen the hedgehog's exhaustion.

"He's hardly had any rest since the incident." Tails worried, "We've tried everything and he just won't snap out of it."

Shadow turned to look at Tails and Rouge, but it was like he only stared right through them. Then, he walked towards his bedroom where an audible click was heard.

"Guess he wants to be alone again." Rouge sighed, "Then again, I would feel like that if one of my treasures disappeared."

"This isn't about jewelry Rouge." The red echidna interrupted, "We're talking about family."

"I know that!" Rouge crossed her arms, "You really think I only care about jewelry! Such a thick headed echidna." She scoffed and walked away.

"What was that all about?" Knuckles scratched his head.

"You're so oblivious..." Tails covered his face with his hand.

Knuckles only gave a dumbfounded look.

"C'mon. I wanna see how Shadow is doing." Tails knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Tails weighed his options and decided to just talk, "You should get something to eat you know. It's not exactly smart to go out fighting with an empty stomach." No answer, "I know you're still hurting, but being alone all the time won't help at all!" Tails jiggled the handle on the door, "You're really worrying everyone! Do you really think this is how Maria and Dash want to see you!?" Again, no response, '_That's weird, he usually throws something at the door after I say that._'

Tails bit his lip. After making sure no one was around, he began picking the lock. The click was heard once again and the door opened slightly. Tails slowly entered the room when he noticed, there was no hedgehog in sight. He closed the door and began searching through the room, '_Where could he have gone?_'

He was about to leave when he saw a photo album tossed aside in the corner of the room, '_He must want to forget..._' Tails looked through the album with a sad expression, '_Will Shadow become distant after this is over?_' Tails turned to leave and bumped into someone.

"What are you doing in here?"

Tails looked up to see Knuckles in the room.

"Nothing! I- well-" Tails put down the album, "Shadow wouldn't answer and I got worried."

"You shouldn't worry about me right now fox." Shadow appeared leaning against the door frame, "You should be worried about having a good explanation."

"Why did you toss this?" Tails pointed at the album.

"That's nothing you should worry about. Now then," He stood up straight, "You have five seconds to get out of this room."

"Chill! Tails was only worried about you." Knuckles stepped up to Shadow, "You should be glad someone still cares about you." Knuckles shoved Shadow's shoulder and walked off. Shadow didn't care though.

"What will you do after you get your revenge on Eggman?" Tails walked up to Shadow slowly.

"Doesn't matter." Shadow crossed his arms, "Right now all that matters is that everyone plays their part."

Tails didn't argue, "At least get some rest. You may feel perfectly fine with only Chaos Energy, but nothing beats a good rest."

He stepped out of the room leaving Shadow in his thoughts, '_I never threw this album away._' He looked around and saw a few other things misplaced, '_Did Tails look through everything?_' He opened a cabinet, '_No. It had to be someone else. The fox has some respect towards others property._' He opened a few drawers, '_Someone was definitely looking for something._' Shadow began looking around the room, paranoia sinking in.

His hand brushed past a cloaked camera, but the glove prevented him from actually feeling it, '_Nothing here._' He picked up the photo album and flipped through a few pages. Right behind one of the photos, was a small key half, '_I better keep this with me at all times._'

"NO WAY!"

Shadow ran out towards the security camera room. He slammed the door open, "What is it?"

"The Eggmorphers are heading right towards us!" Tails began typing and getting coordinates.

"How can you tell!?" Knuckles asked.

"Look at what they're heading towards." The map zoomed out and it was a straight line from where they were.

"But this place was completely hidden." The echidna scratched his head.

"It means we have a traitor." Shadow slammed his fist against the computer, "We need to start the plan early."

Tails looked at Shadow, "But we haven't tested-"

"There's no time. We need them now." He pressed the red button causing sirens to blare through out the base and spoke through the intercom,

"The plan starts now! Get into your positions and don't hold back!"

Everyone ran through the hallways towards vehicles or to the surface.

"Tails, you know what to do."

"Yeah."

Shadow ran off with Knuckles towards the surface and towards the oncoming Eggmorphers.

**With Eggman**

"Smart plan." Eggman chuckled to himself, "Too bad I'm prepared for it."

'_Just you wait Eggman!_' Sonic mentally glared, '_Shadow _always_ finds a way!' His voice went to a whisper, 'At least that's what he's done before._'

"You've kept your end of the deal," Eggman looked at the screen, "As for mine, you and the others shall be left alone so long as you continue working under me. Understood?" The image nodded and faded to static.

"Let the battle begin."

**With Shadow**

The ground shook as the Eggmorphers jumped and crashed into the earth. The rumbling became deafening as the collisions became more and more synchronized. The movement resembled a group of dolphins swimming through the water, nothing holding them back. They're heat censored eyes began to catch hot specks just north of them. A roar burst through the air as a final warning to those who would rise against them.

"How many are there?" Knuckles observed the dust rose from the ground causing minimal visibility.

"By the looks of things, more than we expected." Shadow looked at all the mobians behind him, "Ready yourselves, you know the signal."

All of them nodded and got ready for the collisions they would soon make with the metal gargantuans.

A small video monitor appeared in the forehead of the snake like monsters,

"So nice of you to all appear." Eggman looked around the screen, "Shadow, it's been a while."

Shadow glared him down, "Let's just get this over with so I can come after you."

"Arrogant as always," A sly smile appeared, "Here I thought that Dash's sudden event would wipe that from you."

Shadow clenched his fists, "LEAVE HIM OUT OF THIS! It's your fault he's-"

"My fault? Last I checked, I wasn't the one who Chaos Blasted my creation."

Shadow's eye twitched, "You're not putting the blame on me!" Shadow jumped and threw a punch at the screen in the robot's forehead. Sparks flew as the robot roared. Thus causing the others to attack the team.

"MOVE!" Knuckles yelled.

Shadow Chaos Blasted but had little effect, '_They did get an upgrade._' The snake like robot slammed his tail but saw no hedgehog when it raised it's tail.

Shadow kicked the side of its head causing it to have its eyes flicker. He saw Knuckles punching holes into another, but quickly regenerated itself.

'_We won't be able to hold all these off for too long._'

He saw someone get slammed down to the earth, another roar, metal liquefying and solidifying.

Shadow threw Chaos Spears at the eyes of the robots, each one screeched and began to regenerate their eyes, "Get back!"

Some limped while others supported on someone else. Shadow spoke in his communicator. "Tails! We could use our secret weapon!"

Tails didn't reply back, "Fox! Are you listening!"

A static sound was heard, then a voice, "Let this be payback for all the pain and suffering you've caused along with the other abomination, Project: Shadow."

Shadow growled, "I expected better from you Commander. Joining Eggman was a big mistake."

The eyes of the robots were almost fully in tact.

"That's what you'd think, but by doing so, I save the lives of many, including my men."

Shadow yelled, "Had you stayed on our side, you would've saved the lives of millions! Not a few!"

The Commander scoffed, "That coming from the project that nearly killed those millions!"

"That may be true. But at least I'm trying to do something now just like I did back then."

The robots became fully operational.

"I hope you fall, just like Dash!" He spat.

Shadow became frustrated, "You're foolish! A traitor to your own kind! If anyone will fall, it'll be you along side Eggman and his empire!"

"My only regret was not telling Dash about your past." The Comander was slowly disappearing from the screen, "I wonder what he would've thought of you."

"Leave him out of this!"

"They found us!" Someone yelled.

Shadow barely avoided a collision with a tail, '_We need that secret weapon!_'

The robots dug into the earth, disappearing from everyone's line of view.

"What are they doing?" Jet asked.

The earth beneath them began to shake and crack.

"Hurry to the boulders!" Shadow pointed out at the distance.

The ground began to collapse under them. A few needed to leap from one section to another to reach the boulders ahead.

"Shadow! What's plan B?!" Knuckles yelled as he saw a silver back break the earth's surface.

"One of us needs to go to Tails to activate our defense line." Shadow aimed for the eyes once more, but the robots only dug under to avoid them.

"I'll go. But I need you to cover me!" Knuckles snatched Jet's extreme gear.

"HEY! That's fragile!" Jet reached for it but Knuckles already had it in use.

"If you want me to get us out of this, I need this gear!" He looked at Shadow.

"Go for it." Shadow got ready as Knuckles took off.

One of the robots leaped out of the earth, mouth wide open and ready to swallow the Echidna.

"KNUCKLES!"

"MY EXTREME GEAR!" Jet received a punch, "I mean... Knuckles!" He rubbed his arm.

Knuckles pressed on and the mouth around him, '_Now's a good time Shadow!_' The mouth closed around him,

"Chaos Spear!" A huge wave of spears hit the robot, shredding the neck into pieces, and freeing Knuckles in the process.

"Better late then never, hedgehog." Knuckles made his way to the base.

The robot began to put itself together while the others began to slam the boulder.

**With Knuckles**

Knuckles dodged left and right as lasers continued to fire.

'_Don't they know it's me!?_' Knuckles landed at the entrance and input a code, '_Wrong code? This is the one I always use?_'

"You are trespassing on private property, prepare to be terminated."

'_G.U.N. robots!?_' Knuckles glared, "What's the big idea! We're a team here!"

"We have specific orders to annihilate any who come near the area unless told otherwise."

"Then tell the Commander I'm one of the 'Unless otherwise'!"

The robots remained still. Knuckles's ear flicked when he heard, "Affirmative." It's canon aimed at Knuckles.

'_THAT TRAITOR!_' Knuckled dodged the blast and pulverized them with ease, '_Forget procedure!_' Knuckles charged in and began looking for Tails.

'_Where are you?_' He began stealthing through the hallways. Avoiding cameras and soldiers her heard the blast.

"WHY!?" He heard Tails shout.

'_Must be from over there._' Knuckles quietly made it through to the control room, '_He's not in here!_'

The door slammed shut, "A Trap!"

He looked at the screens and saw Tails tied down in a different room, '_If I could only contact him._'

Knuckles noticed that Tails's ear piece was missing, '_That means!_' He began barricading the door and quickly grabbed the communicator he had.

"Tails," he whispered, "You ok?"

Tails looked around where he was being held, "Yeah," he spoke softly, "Guess they forgot about my communicator." Tails got an idea, "Knuckles, I need you to input the codes to activate-"

"What!?" He shushed himself, "Can't I just break you out and you do it?"

"There's no time. Now then, head for the keyboard and I'll tell you the last part you need to type."

"Alright." He hurried to one of the monitors, "I found it."

"Alright, now type Activation: Unit Alpha Duplica-"

"Hold on. I need to take off my gloves. I keep pressing all the numbers."

"Hurry! I think they're catching on to us."

Knuckles heard banging on the door, "Alright, lets go!"

"Activation: Unit Alpha Duplica 795 Code: 2235. Then press the red button. That should do it!"

The soldiers barged into the room Tails was being held in, while the soldiers after Knuckles barged in as well.

"Too late!" Knuckles slammed the button and received a tackle from the guards.

"Sir," One spoke into the communicator, "We were too late."

"You idiots!" The commander yelled, throwing the talkie to the floor.

"You're really going to follow orders from a person who turned his back on humanity?" Knuckles questioned.

"Silence Echidna! There's a reason he's our leader."

Knuckled shook his head, "Too bad." With brute force, he managed to get them off of him and began running around looking for Tails.

When he reached a certain point, he was surprised to see Tails talking with the soldiers.

Tails saw Knuckles, "Hey!"

"What's up? I see you with-"

"Soldiers? Yeah. They don't approve of the Commander's actions so they decided to join us! Isn't that great!"

"Alright!"

"C'mon, we gotta get started with the next phase of the plan."

Knuckles nodded as he followed Tails. The soldiers running along side them.

**With Shadow**

'_This boulder won't hold for long._' He looked around and noticed a glint in the distance, '_Looks like the Echidna did it.'_ He saw one of the robots rising,_ 'Better late then never._'

He threw a barrage of chaos spears to the ground, "Everyone! Get into the dust cloud!"

They all did as instructed.

'_This better work._' He was the last to run into the dust cloud.

**SuperSonicSpeed: CLIFF HANGER! AHAHAHAHAHA! So our battle has officially started!**

**Sonic: Already?**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Yep! I hope you all enjoyed this Chapter! Thank you for reviewing, following, and favoriting! **

**Shadow: She talks non-stop about the reviews.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: *Blushes* They make me happy! Anywho, I've seen in a few comments that some are requesting a sequel to this. So my question is, DO YOU REALLY WANT A SEQUEL TO THIS STORY? If so, leave a review or pm me and I'll get started on ideas for it. I'll ask this question again on the final chapter but for now, I just wanna see how many of you would like one.**

**Shadow: A sequel?!**

**Sonic: Hey! That sounds- **

**Shadow: Like we better gear up for more disclaimers...**

**Sonic: I'll go to the disclaimer shop!**

**SuperSonicSpeed: :) I'll see everyone next time! Don't forget to review!**


	18. Just Like A Game Of Chess

**Sonic: She doesn't own us!**

**Shadow: Isn't it too early for the disclaimer?**

**SuperSonicSpeed: It's never too early! Anywho, WOW! I'm surprised at how many people want a sequel.**

**Sonic: You better make it good! **

**SuperSonicSpeed: Actually, I already have a general idea, but I'm not telling yet! First we gotta finish this one. I also have 2 other stories going on right now, both father/son, for anyone who wants something different instead of a sequel. :) Hopefully they will satisfy everyone.**

**1) The Wind's Chosen Knight**

**2) Orphan Story: Sonic the Hedgehog which I adopted from claws the tiger.**

**Shadow: Enough stalling. **

**SuperSonicSpeed: Start! OH! and all questions will be answered at the end. ;)**

The Eggmorphers began to scan through the dust cloud Shadow had created. They automatically turned when a jolt hit the sides of their heads which caused their sensors to fidget for a millisecond. Their glares were aimed down at the hedgehog below who remained accompanied by his companions.

'_C'mon... Buy it..._'

The Eggmorphers hissed and began their attacks. Each one with a new found anger.

'_Perfect._' Shadow looked at the group that hid behind a nearby hill.

"I thought we were goners." Whispered Charmy.

"Those androids won't last long-" Tails was interrupted by a screech.

Everyone looked and saw one of the androids torn apart. They were about to hide again when they noticed the android regenerated itself and jumped right back up.

"Creepy. They look like us _and_ they can do that..." The large crocodile inquired.

"Like I was saying, they won't last lo-"

"What do you mean?! It just regenerated itself!" Whispered Jet.

"I'm trying to tell you!" Tails lowered his voice, "I couldn't figure out how to stabilize the metal. It's a matter of time until they implode. That or..."

"Or?" Rouge looked at the fox.

"Or Eggman figures it out first and finds a way to destroy them on the spot. Who knows, maybe he saw the android regenerate and is sending more robots."

"That doesn't explain why they're attacking them and not us. Shouldn't their heat sensors have detected us?" Rouge put a hand on her hip, "Not that I'm complaining. But someone has to tame this girls curiosity."

"That was the Chaos Spear my android copy threw." Shadow spoke, "It made the wires over heat which caused a minor malfunction making them think the androids are us."

Everyone nodded as Shadow took out a map and unrolled it. He kneeled down to get a closer look.

"Now then, Eggman has built bases all over the world already," He put a finger under his chin, "He most likely has a hidden base somewhere we don't know about."

"Wasn't Eggman going to stay in Robotropolis? That _is_ his main capitol, right?" Charmy asked.

"I'm not aiming for Eggman just yet." Shadow began marking the locations of each base. "It's better if we weaken Eggman's hold on the world first. Specifically our general area. Destroying his bases built here should at least slow him down." Shadow stood up, "Then, _I_ get Eggman."

"Hey, you can't get all the fun!" Knuckles interjected, "He took our best friend away from us! Don't think for a second this is just your personal business!"

Shadow only grunted and started walking away.

"Are you listening?!" Tails held back Knuckles, "You can't just-"

A screech interrupted Knuckles.

"I heard you. I just need to do a side track job before going towards one of the bases. Pick whichever base you want and wreck it. Tails should have made a few devices to help with that part."

Shadow ran towards his destination while the rest began to plan out teams.

"I'll stay to make sure the Eggmorphers stay busy." Espio peeked over the hill and watched as their android clones geared up for a team up attack.

Knuckles nodded, "Alright, let's start picking."

**With Eggman**

Eggman made his way towards his throne room, eager to know how the battle was going.

"He_llo_ 'Dash'!" He walked to the throne with a bit too much excitement, "Let's see how your friends are doing with their pointless battle."

"..."

With a simple press of a button on the throne, a screen shot from the Eggmorphers eyes appeared.

"I would've expected them to be taken care of." Eggman frowned, "No matter. They'll fall eventually," He grinned, "Just like you did."

'_Egghead!_' Sonic saw the screen before him, '_Tell me this isn't your plan. You can't beat them head on when there're so many._' Sonic noticed something that if you blinked, you would miss, '_Why are their bodies flickering blue? Shouldn't they be red in the sensor?_' He inwardly smirked, '_Looks like they made the slip on you Eggman._'

**With Shadow**

"Didn't think I'd ever come back to this place." Shadow walked around prison island looking for the plain where Dash succumbed to Eggman's mind control.

He reached the area and began looking for the exact place where Dash fell.

'_It should of been around he-._' He accidently kicked what he was looking for, '_The other half of the key._' He picked it up and put his piece together with the piece he gave Dash. Before he ran off he looked down once more and slowly remembered the pained filled screams that Dash let out when Eggman activated the chip in his mind. His pleading eyes that begged for any help to end his suffering.

"I didn't help you then..." He clutched the key, "But I will now."

Shadow ran back to the jet ski he 'borrowed' and headed towards the main base, Robotropolis.

'_Even if he's not there,' _Waves crashed and sprayed his quills,_ 'Trashing the crown jewel of his achievements will be just as satisfying._'

**With Espio**

'_These androids sure put up a fight._'

The Eggmorphers grew annoyed and retreated a bit to get some room. Each one liquefied and took form of each opponent.

'_Why am I not surprised?_'

One punched the ground causing a huge crack on the dried out floor below.

Just when the androids were going to start their attack, one paused and began to twitch. Slowly, it began to glow redder and redder until its final step took place, the explosion.

Espio grabbed his communicator, "Everyone, the first android has imploded. Whatever you're doing, make it fast."

"Copy that."

Espio continued his spying.

**With Eggman**

"What was that!?" Eggman grabbed a nearby computer and began scanning his Eggmorphers to find out each one had overheated circuits. After a bit of computing, the bodies in the heat sensors turned blue. He slammed his fists hard on the arm rests of the throne, "NO! _Where _did the real ones go!?"

He pressed another button and the Commander appeared.

"Why didn't you tell me that the runt made himself a small army of androids!?"

The Commander's eyes widened, "I- I didn't know. I never heard them planning such a thing!"

"I hope you're ready to face the consequences of a poorly done job."

"There must be a way I can make it up to you!" The Commander was desperate.

"Hm," Eggman went into deep thought, "There is one way."

The Commander was then given his instructions and sent off to his mission.

'_ALRIGHT!_' Sonic was beyond happy, '_They just have to keep up the pace and they'll be just fine._'

**With Espio**

'_Just three androids left and none of the Eggmorphers have fallen._'

The androids were already showing the first signs of malfunction and their window was running out.

'_If they don't hurry- HUH!? The androids, they're shutting down?_'

Each one began to slump and slowly fall, each one crushed like an ant.

"Time's up everyone. The androids are down!"

"_Already!_" The communicator made a high pitch sound.

"_Y_es! If I were all of you, I'd start the detonation sequence and get out!"

An Eggmorpher picked up a heat signature and began heading towards it.

Espio quickly jumped out of the way, "I've been spotted! I'll try to lose them but..." He let the sentence hang as the communicator was slapped out of his hand. G.U.N. agents surrounded him and took him down.

**With Charmy and Vector**

"Espio!"

"C'mon Charmy! He can take care of himself. Besides," Vector was almost pushed away as a robot slammed the door again, "We have our own problems!"

Charmy placed the detonator down, "Alright. It's set, now let's get out of here!"

Vector opened the door right when the robot attempted to slam it. The robot ended up flying straight into one of the main computers. Vector locked the door and broke off the handle.

"Let's go!"

"Hey Charmy, did you get any info from the computer?"

"Yeah I-"

The lights in the base shut off causing visibility to be near impossible.

"What's going on!?"

**With Eggman**

"Let's see your friends get out of this." Eggman chuckled, "If they're so desperate to take down my bases, then they can fall with them." He grinned, "I can always build more."

Sonic felt himself panic, '_First Espio... and now..._' He felt sick inside, '_RUN FOR IT!_'

**With Charmy and Vector**

"Detonation in 5 minutes." Those words echoed through the base. Sirens blared, but the lights all remained off.

"We need to find a way out! We have to tell them what we found!" Charmy continued to fly into the walls while Vector stumbled over pieces of unused metal.

"I thought factories were supposed to be well kept! We didn't even trash this part!"

"Guys!" The communicator buzzed, "Which base are you in? I might be able to help!"

"Tails! We're in the forest base!"

"Alright! I think I have the blueprints for it."

"How'd you get those?" Vector asked avoiding another wall.

"I downloaded the info before destroying the base."

"Looks like we had the same idea!" Charmy yelled.

"All of us did." A silence, "All right, I'm sending you the map along side your location!"

"Thanks Tails! You're a lifesaver!" Vector looked at the holographic map that sprouted from the communicator.

"This way! Let's go!"

Trap doors began to fall, causing them to run faster. The exit door was just within reach, but it was already half-way closed. Vector grabbed Charmy and threw him through the exit.

"Vector!"

The door shut right before he made it out.

"Go Charmy!"

"I can't just leave you!"

"Go! I got another plan anyway! I'll meet you up later!"

Charmy sniffed, "You better be there!" He flew far and heard the explosion of the base.

"VECTOR!" He noticed a few Eggmorphers coming up from the ground, '_I have to go before they spot me!_'

He hurried with tears flowing down, '_I'll see you._' He began fighting them off, '_You said we'd meet up! So I know I'll see you again!_'

**With Eggman**

"Excellent! I must say, this does give minor set backs, but nothing too drastic."

'_I don't want to see this._' Sonic cried out, '_JUST SHUT ME DOWN!_'

"Now, let's see where the rest are." A screen came down, "Commander, where are the others located?"

"They're heading somewhere east."

"And Shadow?"

"We haven't spotted him yet."

Eggman glared, "You better hope he's no where important, for your sake." The screen went to static and Eggman stood up, '_Which base hasn't been attacked yet?_' He looked at his map and paused, "Robotropolis. I should have known he would head over there." He went to a computer and typed a few codes, "That should serve for entertainment. This is one base I refuse to let fall."

**With Shadow**

'_Get ready for a headache Eggman._' Shadow dashed through the city, avoiding the street cameras and any robot patrols, '_This is still too easy._'

A huge screen appeared with a picture of him and an intercom came to life, "Citizens of Robotropolis, If anyone sees Shadow the Hedgehog, you are to report him to a robot patrol immediately. Failure to comply will lead you straight to Robotization."

'_Great... These _humans_ fear him so much they'll probably turn me in before giving me a chance to stop him._' Shadow growled, '_Unreliable humans._'

Shadow only needed to cross the clearing, '_I'll most likely be spotted through here._' He looked for anything to get in, underground tunnel system, sewage pipes, back entrances, '_I'm wasting my time._' He looked at the clearing again and smirked, '_Guess I'll have to work fast._'

Before he ran, he was spotted by a woman and child.

'_Caught already..._' Shadow only stared at them and to his surprise, saw the woman shush her child and run the opposite direction, '_I guess a few still have faith in us._' The robot synchronized their turns. Each one at a pattern.

'_NOW!_' Shadow blasted right through the center. As soon as he reached the center, the robot guards turned and opened fire, but by then, Shadow was inside, ready to trash the base.

'_I'm going to enjoy this more than I should_'

**SuperSonicSpeed: That all folks! Sorry if it seems rushed or slow. I guess I'm getting excited because there's a certain chapter I want to get to.**

**Sonic: The end?**

**SuperSonicSpeed: NO! I'll be sad when it ends. :( **

**Shadow: There's a question for you from sonadowlover331.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: OOO! Tell me!**

**Shadow: Was it because Sonic got his DNA switched around that he forgot who he really was? Cause he wasn't just turned into a baby it was the effect of DNA right?**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Good question. So the DNA only affected his appearance, what made him lose his memory was the time that passed. In general, no one remembers things when they were babies beacause the brain is still developing. In short, Sonic's personality/memory was suppressed thanks to the combination of his new identity that slowly developed and the time that past. There is a hint on the chip, BUT, that will be explained in a later chapter. I hope this answers your question! **

**Shadow: That's a long answer...**

**Sonic: Yeah, it made my head spin.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: ... Til next time! Don't forget to review, follow, and favorite! :) THANKS FOR READING!**


	19. So Close But Still Too Far

**Sonic: It's Monday!**

**Shadow: *Glare***

**SuperSonicSpeed: I need... Candy... O.O **

**Sonic: You two need to liven up!**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Then liven us up with the disclaimer.**

**Sonic: She doesn't own us! **

**Shadow: I'm getting coffee...**

**SuperSonicSpeed: I'll supervise my candy stash while everyone reads... START!**

'_The control center should be ahead._'

Shadow glided through the hallways, avoiding any robot and camera lasers that fired. He ran into a random room and waited for the robots to pass.

"Locate Shadow the Hedgehog." They repeated over and over.

'_Now I understand the don't wear it out part..._' Shadow huffed.

As soon as the coast was clear, he darted out towards the nearest stair case.

'_Almost th-_' The staircase flattened creating slippery, steep slide. Shadow caught a handle rail just in time, '_How childish of Eggman._'

He pulled himself towards the top with a bit of effort and progressed to the next area.

'_It's almost like he tried to copy the actual design of the Ark._' He grinned, '_That makes things a lot easier for me._'

After a few more hallways, he made it to the center computer room. Shadow plugged in a few flash drives and started downloading all the data he could get his hands on. While that went on, he began setting up the detonation sequence.

'_You lose this one doctor._'

A small beep came from the computer, notifying that all data was retrieved. He paused after hiding the flash drives in his quills.

"I know you're there. Stop hiding."

"Didn't I tell you _not_ to come without us?" An angry Echidna growled.

Shadow shrugged, "Must've slipped my mind."

"The ultimate life form's age finally catching up?" Knuckles chuckled.

"That coming from the Echidna who always seems to lose the Master Emerald..."

Knuckles crossed his arms, "Either way, we should get out of here."

Tails walked over to the detonation sequence and did a small adjustment,

"Just in case they find it, they won't be able to reprogram or stop it. This place goes down one way or the other."

Shadow and Knuckles nodded.

"Let's get out of here."

Shadow took the lead but soon paused making Knuckles and Tails bump into him.

"What's the big idea hedge-"

"SH!" Shadow's ears flickered around.

"Don't quiet me down you-"

"Use your ears Echidna." Shadow grunted.

"I don't hear anything."

Shadow pushed them towards a different way, "GO!"

"What did you hear Shadow?" Tails asked as he flew to keep up.

A roar echoed through the hallways making them cover their ears.

"Eggmorphers!"

"Head towards the staircase!" Knuckles got a head start.

"Wait!" Shadow tried stopped them right before stepping on the first step, "Hold on to the railing, tight."

Just as they reached the top, the same thing happened, but this time, they were ready. They pulled themselves forward and looked down. Three Eggmorphers crashed the door, causing dust to rise and a giant hole to appear. Shadow pulled the Echidna and fox making them pay attention to where they were heading.

The Eggmorphers began to trail them,

"Can't you two run any faster?!" Shadow yelled looking back.

"Last I checked, I didn't have fancy shoes like yours to speed me up!"

Shadow's eye twitched at Knuckles remark,

"This isn't the time for this guys!" Tails yelled as he flew next to Knuckles.

"There's a door up ahead, if I can open it for a few seconds it may but us some time." Shadow blasted ahead, "What ever you do, keep running forward!"

"Alright!"

Shadow went ahead and as soon as he got to the door, a screen appeared.

'_It needs a password._' He began typing random words, '_Egg. Omelette. Sonic. Hedgehog. Dash? Project._'

He could hear the footsteps coming closer.

'_Hm... Eggmanland!_' He input the code, but was again denied.

"Try Ogilvie Maurice Hedgehog!" Tails yelled from down the hall.

Shadow gaved a confused stare but did it anyway.

"_Access granted._"

'_What kind of password...?_'

The door slowly slid upen, "Slide!"

Tails and Knuckled dived, Shadow right behind them, He quickly got up and pressed the emergency shut down button for the metal door to come down. A huge thud came soon after, then various light ones as the Eggmorphers tried to get in.

"Who knew Eggman knew Sonic's old name." Knuckles dusted himself off.

'_Old name? I see why he changed it._' Shadow began to walk straight ahead.

"That was... too close." Tails breathed heavily, "Don't tell Sonic I told you Shadow. He'd probably freak out about his biggest rival knowing his old name."

Shadow only made a small 'heh' and continued.

Where are we anyways? The lights are too dim."

Shadow clapped his hands causing the lights to automatically turn on.

"How did you?" Knuckles looked around.

"It's Eggman we're talking about. You really think he uses light switches?" Shadow began looking around and paused, '_This is Eggman's throne room. Which means..._' He looked above the chair, '_No Dash..._'

He clenched his fists, '_I guess I really did destroy him with the Eggmorpher... I failed you Dash, just like Maria..._'

He felt a hand on his shoulder, "Just because he isn't here doesn't prove anything." Tails smiled lightly, "We'll keep looking until we find him."

"I hate to break this up but... Don't we have a detonation sequence to avoid?" Knuckles scratched his head, "And I don't think jumping out the window is the best option for you or me Shadow."

Shadow walked over and saw the height of the jump, "Can't you glide Echidna? That building doesn't seem very far."

Knuckles face palmed, '_Why didn't I think of that._'

"I can carry you down if you want Shadow."

Shadow was about to say something when he realized the constant thuds had stopped, '_This can't be good._'

The three Eggmorphers erupted from the floor, knocking them off balance. Each one liquefied and hardened, trapping them in their hold.

Their struggling halted as screen flickered to life showing a mustached man with a wide grin.

"HOHOHOHOHO! Leaving so soon? We were just about to have some fun."

"Cut to the chase Eggman, we don't have all night." Shadow sneered.

"You're right. According to the detonator you put, there's only a few minutes left until this base is in ruins." He cleched his fists, "I really hate to see this place crumble, it _is_ my crown jewel after all, but seeing you go down with it just makes it easier on me." He grinned, "Just like little Dash."

Shadow's voice was pure ice, "Don't you _ever_ say his name! You used him and disposed of him in an ill mannered way! A way only monsters like you deserve!"

"Tough words for a hedgehog trapped in solid metal." Eggman grunted as he looked at the stopwatch, "Look at the time, just two more minutes left."

Panic entered their bodies as they struggled to free themselves.

Eggman chuckled as he got an idea, "How about I give you a goodbye gift? After all, we've been through so much over the past few years... haven't we?" He stood up after pressing a button that fogged up most of the screen.

Shadow's eyes widened when he saw who appeared, "Dash. He's, alive?" He blinked again and again wondering if it was a hallucination, '_He's not robotisized. How?_'

"Huh?" Dash whimpered as he slowly stood up from the floor.

Shadow froze, '_This _has_ to be a trick!_'

"Where am I? What's going on?!" Dash turned around and looked at the egg shaped man. He began taking a few steps back as fear coursed through his veins.

"Instead of looking at me like that, why don't you look behind you?"

Dash looked at the screen and his expression mimicked Shadow's,

"DAD!" He ran up to the screen, "What's going on?! Why are you covered in metal?"

Shadow snapped out of it, "Dash, I, you're... ok."

Dash wiped away a tear and sniffed, "I wanna go home dad."

"You will soon son. I-"

"Oh really?" Eggman walked over to Dash, "Tell me, what's the last thing you remember?"

Dash closed his eyes, "I- I was asking dad for help when I was on the ground holding my head."

"AND did you help him Shadow?" Eggman looked at the shocked expression turn to shame.

"I-"

"Dad?" Dash looked at him confused.

"As soon as you were under my control," Eggman faked sadness as he put a hand on his chest, "He ran away, leaving you."

Dash looked at Shadow again, but he looked liked he had seen a ghost, "Is it..." he gulped, "True?"

"I'm sorry Dash." Shadow looked at his son's heart broken eyes, "But I-"

"Times up for the both of you." Eggman interrupted rudely.

Dash looked at Eggman with teared up eyes, "N-no... NO! I- He- We-" He couldn't make out a sentence.

Eggman smiled and faked kindness, "Dash, here you will be well taken care of. I would _never_ abandon you like a certain father of yours."

"Don't listen to him Dash! He'll only robotisize you again!" Tails yelled.

"Shadow came right back for you when you first appeared!" Knuckled followed.

"He thinks non-stop about you! He still cares and you know it!" Tails ended and both looked at Shadow again.

Dash looked at Shadow,

"I made a mistake Dash. Please," Shadow's eyes had small tears, "Forgive me. I can set you free from his hands."

"I-"

"I said TIME'S UP!" Eggman roared.

"Run Dash!" Shadow yelled with a hint of desperation.

'_Freedom?_'

Dash was stunned and before he could even heed his fathers words, Eggman grinned and uttered one word, "Activate."

Dash made a minor jolt, his face turned expressionless as he was grabbed by the shoulders and slowly turned to look directly at the screen again. Eggman began to pet his unrobotisized quills,

"He'll be perfectly safe here when you're gone," He looked at Shadow, "And yes, he _will_ remain under my control. I would never be so foolish as to destroy the thing that got me here _or_ set it free." He taunted as he snapped his fingers making Dash's body robotisize fully once more.

Shadow's shocked expression slowly became a pure glare that contained nothing but raw hatred for the man. A feral growl escaped him, making Tails and Knuckles flinch, both looked at each other worried.

'_It took years to robotisize him the first time. How did he do it this fast?!_'

"Goodbye Shadow and don't worry, your son is in safe hands in _my_ Empire." He began walking away with Dash following close behind, "What a fitting way for you to fall," He grinned widely "knowing you were _never_ able to save little Dash and never knowing if he forgave you." The screen went black and a countdown from five began. Shadow could no longer contain his fury,

"CHAOS... BLAAAAAAAAST!"

The intensity of the blast liquefied the robots, allowing him to grab an unconscious Tails and Knuckles.

3

'_There has to be an alternative from the window_!'

2

Shadow looked around and noticed the Eggmorphers already trying to take their shape.

1

He looked at the two unconscious Mobians, "Be glad you're both unconscious."

0

Shadow busted through the window just when a ball of flames erupted. Glass rained down and decorated the skies above. Shadow held on tight to Knuckles and Tails and began hoping for the best as soon as his feet touched the side of the building. He began running down as fast as he could as explosions continued heading towards the lower levels. Each one got nearer and nearer,

'_Why did Eggman have to build such a tall building!_' Shadow could start feeling the heat from the flames.

Adrenaline kicked in when he saw the last few floors below him, '_This has to be perfect or else..._'

Shadow pushed himself and landed safely on the concrete. He continued running as Eggman's base disappeared with the flames.

**With The Group**

"Where are they?" Rouge looked around for anything. Even a dust cloud would help.

"I'm sure they're fine." Blaze looked at the skies, "We have to avoid being caught for now."

"What's taking him so long?" Silver paced, "If we're out here any longer, Eggman _will_ find us."

"Look! Someone's coming!" Amy pointed to the sky.

"Charmy!" Everyone smiled, but soon it faded when they noticed his blood shot eyes.

"Charmy, what happened? Where's Vector?" Rouge looked around.

Charmy sniffled, "He... he... He got trapped," sniffle, "In the base and..." Sob, "It exploded!" He covered his face with his hands and sobbed harder, "Then I saw a few Eggmorphers and..." Charmy couldn't finish.

Amy gave him a light hug, "I'm sure he found a way out. Don't worry."

"H-has Espio c-contacted you?"

Everyone looked down.

Charmy continued to cry, no consolation helping him whatsoever.

"Someone else is coming!" Yelled Silver.

Shadow ran towards the destination everyone agreed on and noticed a few Mobians missing.

'_This isn't good._'

Shadow slowed down once he entered the group.

"What happened to you three!" Rouge helped Shadow by supporting Knuckles on her shoulder. Silver held on to Tails and noticed something,

"Shadow, you look like you're about to pass out."

'_It must've been the Chaos Blast._' He flinched as he felt himself losing his balance, "We need.. to get to... a secret place."

"Where? G.U.N. was our only safe house and-" Shadow interrupted Blaze.

"No. I know of a place that should serve us well for the final part of our plan."

Everyone looked at each other confused.

"We need to head towards-" he grunted as he fell to his knee.

"Shadow!" Silver used his telekinesis to help him up.

"I'm fine. I just need some time to catch my breath." He closed his eyes, "We need to go to Green Hill Zone. There, we can see the information we managed to receive."

"It'll be easy to get there with these!" Jet flew in with Wave and Storm. Each one carried some extreme gear.

"We didn't have many, so some will have to share." Wave spoke.

"We need to leave soon. On our way over, we saw G.U.N. soldiers heading our way." Storm added.

Everyone nodded and hurriedly flew the extreme gear.

'_Just wait a little longer Dash. I'm coming to get you soon._'

**SuperSonicSpeed: TADA!**

**Sonic: You're cruel...**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Yeah yeah, I know. **

**Shadow: Didn't think Eggman would be so evil.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: What did you all think? Did you see this coming? Good chapter? Ok Chapter? Let me know in your reviews! Thank you for SO much for reading, favoriting, following, and reviewing! :D**

**Shadow: You have a question to answer.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: YAY! Shoot!**

**Sonic: This is from RobinsonSiblings: What happened to Espio?! **

**Shadow: I think that was a rhetorical question Faker.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Agreed! But you'll all know soon enough. ;) Til next time everyone!**


	20. Pinky Promise

**Sonic: SuperSonicSpeed! Where are you!?**

**Shadow: She's hiding.**

**Sonic: Why? Is she tired of us saying "She doesn't own us?" as the disclaimer? *Looks at audience* I'm not repeating that folks! That's the disclaimer!**

**Shadow: SylverEclipse said she would giver her a painful tickle torture if something happened to Espio. **

**Sonic: Something happened to Espio?!**

**Shadow: I said IF.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: PSST! Is the coast clear?**

**Shadow: No. START! **

Shadow began to sway left and right on their way over to Green Hill Zone.

"HEY SHADOW!" Tails flew next to him, "I think you should sit and let me ride."

Shadow glared, "I don't need your help." He began to see the greenery below and headed for a specific three looped formation, "Follow me and don't stop!"

With confirmed nods, he sped up and started on the first loop. A light blue light scanned the hover boards as they passed by.

"What was that!?" Yelled Rouge.

"Don't get distracted and speed up!" Yelled Shadow. Each Mobian watched in aw as the next loop scanned above them.

"Are you gonna tell us what these are for?!" Yelled Tails.

The third loop came, but instead of a scan, a rock formation was up ahead.

"Shadow! Are you insane!? We're gonna crash!" Knuckles began to slow down a bit.

"You'll see when we get there Echidna!" Shadow sped up and disappeared into the rock. Assuming that's what's supposed to happen, they squinted their eyes and went through.

"A, hologram?" Tails asked to no one in particular.

Their surrounding resembled closely to a cave full of ice crystals, soft blues vibrant like stars (A/N: For a better visual, Google: caves of Iceland. Those caves a BEAUTIFUL!). A water creek could be heard through the echoes as a soft breeze gave them a chill effect. Tails rubbed his arms for warmth as they continued to follow Shadow down the cave.

"Shadow? Where are you taking us?"

Shadow didn't answer and continued walking. Everyone shrugged as another wind blew through.

"It's c-c-cold in h-here." Charmy spoke.

Shadow stopped and turned to look at the group,

"I've kept this place secret since the day I defeated Black Doom. I only show you this place due to the dire situation we're in. If I see G.U.N. or any of you snooping around here after all this is over, I'll hunt you down."

The expressions on everyone mixed from confusion, shock, and annoyance.

"Just get on with it hedgehog! So far, all we've seen is blue crystals and a light show!" Jet yelled.

Shadow rolled his eyes, "You call yourself a treasure hunter..."

"What did you just say!?"

"If you look closer, we're already at our destination."

Everyone watched as Shadow pulled out, what looked like, a red and black key blade from his quills. Small spikes decorated the symbol Shadow was well known for.

"That looks similar to the necklace you gave Dash!" Tails realized.

"I gave him a piece of the key for safe keeping." Shadow walked up to a crystal on the right and inserted the key, making the illusion of colorful rocks disappear and open a steel door.

Shadow walked in and the rest followed. Lights flickered to life as they progressed through a long hallway to another door. Shadow peeled off his glove and put it in the scanner. Once verified, the eye scanner was next, followed by a voice verification.

"Geez! What are you trying..." Everyone pause and looked around, "To... hide..."

Computers were all over the walls, lab stations, everything a scientist could _dream_ of was located in the secret facility.

"Why didn't you tell us about this place before?" Tails asked.

Shadow remained silent as he headed towards a room, "Knuckles, follow me. The rest, feel free to explore."

Tails went directly to the main computer while the rest looked at the various gadgets that hung on the walls.

"What do you think this does?" Storm picked one of the rays up.

"I recommend you put it down before you hurt yourself." Wave walked by, noticing a table she could use to upgrade her gear, "This place is _way_ better than that G.U.N. place."

"WHAT!?" Knuckles yelled out, "WHEN!?"

"Calm down Echidna." Shadow grunted, "It needed to be in a safer place aside from Angel Island. Eggman would've stolen it while you were captured."

"You said Rouge was guarding it!" Knuckles growled.

"I did. I never said for how long." Shadow walked out with a fuming Echidna trailing behind.

"What happened Knuckle head?" Rouge asked.

"You didn't tell me the Master Emerald on the island was a fake!"

Rouge looked at Shadow, "I see he knows."

"How did Angel Island stay afloat?" Asked Silver.

"I transferred the necessary chaos energy from the Master Emerald to the fake." Shadow walked towards a computer, "Let's see what we got from those flash drives."

Tails collected everyone's memory card and inserted them to various operations.

"So what's so important about this place?" Asked Rouge.

"It belonged to Gerald when he lived on earth. Only a few of us knew thanks to the cloaking devices and signal interferences." Shadow scanned a few pages, "It was kept secret because he was afraid G.U.N. or any other unreliable ally would use it for their own greed." He exited a few windows and continued to the next, "Before he left, he used a machine to erase many of the scientists memories of this place."

"How do you know?"

"You can say hacking and retrieving data is my other skill." He smirked as he scrolled down a page, "Has anyone found anything?"

"No. But," Silver looked at Shadow, "Won't Eggman find us since we're looking at downloaded files from _his_ computers? Wouldn't he have a virus or tracking system for this?"

"Impossible. Gerald was always a step ahead. That's why he created every anti-virus, firewall, and signal blocker he could think of. Even if Eggman was to locate us, he'll be sent on a wild goose chase in random areas around the world."

Tails gasped.

"What is it?" Shadow stood up and walked next to Tails.

"I... I think I found the blueprints for the chip he used on Dash." Tails printed out the pages, "I'll start analyzing these." He grabbed a few markers and stationed himself at a table.

Shadow walked over to another table and began sketching out a few plans, '_What's the best way to get to Eggman._' He sighed, '_Scratch that, What's the best way to _find_ Eggman._' He looked at a computer on the far end of the circular room, '_It's been trying to track his signal for days and it still hasn't picked up anything._' He frowned, '_The look in Dash's eyes... That fear..._'

**With Eggman**

'_Eggman! How could you toy with Shadow and Dash like that!_' Sonic's fury was getting the better of him, '_I'm supposed to be_ helping _them yet here I am, cooped up in my own head..._' His tone became bitter, '_I couldn't even move when Dash was unrobotisized._' He felt a pang where his robotisized heart beat, '_I could only watch as freedom slipped past our fingers._'

"Strange..." Eggman had started to connect Dash to a scanner, '_Dash shouldn't have reacted the way he did when saw Shadow and the others._' He smirked as he finalized the wiring panel, '_I bet the reaction I was hoping for would've torn Shadow's heart into small bitter pieces._'

He walked over to a computer that had a full blueprint of Dash and the chip in his head. He typed various codes until he found his problem,

"I was in such a rush, I forgot to complete the program!" Eggman started writing a few things on blank sheets of paper, a grumble escaping his lips, "At this rate, I should have it done in a few days."

'_Program? There's something else to this!?_' Sonic waited, hoping that this would not get any worse, '_Haven't you done enough damage?_'

Eggman stood up and began calibrating a few things on a separate computer. Sonic's nerves were starting to fry when the doctor chuckled,

"Yes!" He _ran_ back to the other computer with a face that held excitement, "This should be ready by tomorrow afternoon, sooner than I expected, but I'm not complaining!" He walked over to the robotisized hedgehog, "Say goodbye Sonic and Dash."

Sonic felt his eyes widen, '_Goodbye? What're you?_ _WHERE ARE YOU GUYS!_'

A robot busted in crashing the celebration, "Doctor!"

"WHAT IS IT!? I'm in the middle of something _important_!"

"We cannot find any evidence of the three intruders that were left behind in the base. System shows there is a small chance that they escaped."

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Eggman felt the joy slip away to anger, "Search _harder_ and DOUBLE SECURITY!"

The robot flew out in a flash as Eggman contacted the Commander.

"Eggman?"

"Where is the group that gathered after the destruction of my bases?!"

"We were, unable to find them. They disappeared from our rad-"

Eggman slammed his fists against the table, "UNACCEPTABLE!" His eye twitched, "If we don't find them, they may have a chance to come up with a plan to overthrow my rule!" Eggman felt a vein pop from his head, '_I can't lose to them again!_ _I_ won't _lose to them again!_' He looked at Decoe and Bocoe, "BOTH OF YOU! Send the new recruits to look for the rebels!" Both nodded and disappeared, '_Maybe..._'

Eggman walked back to the computer he left running in auto-pilot and opened a new screen. After a few minutes, Sonic felt small electrical charges going through, then a sudden probing sensation.

'_What's going on?_' Before him, images of Shadow and Dash went by, '_He's looking through our memory!_' The images would blur to the next one just as fast as it appeared, '_What is he looking for?_'

"_Here, I want you to have this._" An image of Shadow spoke as he put the necklace on Dash, "_I need you to take very good care of it and _never_ take it off._"

Dash smiled, "_Ok daddy. I promise._" He stretched out a pinky that was soon circled by a larger one.

Sonic felt himself whisper along with them in unison, "_Pinky promise._"

The image blurred as Shadow hugged him close, Dash smiling, and a gentle breeze rushing through their quills.

"Useless!" Eggman roared, "Absolutely _nothing_ that could help me locate them!" He sat down frustrated, rubbing the temples of his head, "Just when I thought things were going so smoothly..."

**With Shadow**

"Have you found anything?" Shadow looked over Tails shoulder and saw a lot of, nonsense?

"This isn't as easy to decode as I thought."

"What do you mean?" Shadow looked at the fox with a hint of confusion.

"He practically invented a language! That's what I mean." Tails underlined a few points, "So far, all I can tell you is what we know. Once the chip is in its host, it slowly turns the organic tissue to metal by fusing with it."

Shadow sighed.

"Have you come up with a plan to find the base?" Tails inquired.

"I have a... hunch of where it could be."

"Hunch?"

"If I were Eggman and I had my rival in my control, where would I be?"

Tails shrugged, "I'm asking you, not the other way around."

Shadow rolled his eyes, "Let me rephrase it then, If I had my rival in my control but I had a small feeling he _might_ break free from my control, where would I be?"

Tails paused, the answer was so simple!

"An underwater base!" Tails froze, "But I thought you taught Dash how to swim?"

"I did. But if you ever noticed, he would sometimes walk around, hesitate for a bit, and then jump in."

Tails began to think, "We should send a few mini spybots to test the waters."

"I agree." Shadow began to walk away when he heard a light gasp, "Something new?"

Tails nodded shakily, "This sequence isn't complete, but I've seen it before."

"Spit it out fox!"

"This is a sequence for permanent memory deletion, think of it as permanent amnesia for a robot. Since Dash is technically a robot-"

Shadow spoke like if he were in a trance, worry coursing through each word, "He'll erase his memory of all of us, thus deleting the last strand to his freedom."

"Shadow!" Rouge ran in, "I think there's something you have to see."

Shadow walked over to a security screen and saw a birds eye view of G.U.N. soldiers marching, but what caught his attention was further ahead than them, "It can't be."

Charmy had closed his eyes, no longer wanting to see the screen.

**SuperSonicSpeed: MWAHAHAHAHA! I'll end it here.**

**Sonic: WHAT!?**

**SuperSonicSpeed: I couldn't resist! *hides***

**Shadow: You came out of hiding.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: But for how long?**

**Shadow: *Face Palm***

**SuperSonicSpeed: 20 CHAPTERS! WHERE'S my guacamole! Hehe... yeah not funny... Anyways! Thank you everyone for reading, favoriting, following, reviewing, supporting, ect.! I know I say this all the time, but I REALLY do appreciate the feedback and all! :D I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you all, next time. *Hides***

**Sonic: Hey Shadow.**

**Shadow: What?**

**Sonic: ****SuperSonicSpeed** spelled ect. wrong. It's etc. right?

**SuperSonicSpeed: O.o WHAT!? -.- Why didn't my English teachers ever tell me... I've spelled it this way for as long as I can remember.**

**Shadow: *Annoyed* To anyone looking for ****SuperSonicSpeed**, she's behind the tree.

******SuperSonicSpeed: SHADOW!**


	21. One Thing For Another

**Shadow: *Sniff* Sonic, why do you smell like onion?**

**Sonic: Let's just say LovesBugsalot has a mean throw. **

**SuperSonicSpeed: Tell me about it... So far I've dodged very sharp pens and I can't hide thanks to blabber mouth Shadow! **

**Shadow: Blabber mouth!**

**Sonic: Hey SylverEclipse! We do have lives! **

**Shadow: But we'd be more than happy to comply with the tickle torture. *Looks at SuperSonicSpeed***

**SuperSonicSpeed: Eh? Hehehehe... he... I own none of the characters. **

**Shadow: Better start running.**

**Sonic: START!**

"Has anyone found anything!" Yelled the Commander.

"Negative sir, nor have our heat sensors."

The Commander looked ahead, "By the looks of things, those two haven't found a thing either." He sighed frustrated.

Espio and Vector's metallic bodies glinted in the afternoon sunlight as they flew around hunting for anything suspicious.

'_Looks like Eggman did standard robotization,_' He grinned, '_A ninja and a crocodile on our side instead of Project: Shadow. This'll make things easier._' He looked around, '_Shadow as a robot... Hm._'

**With Shadow**

"IT'S NOT FAIR!" Yelled Charmy as he headed towards the door.

Shadow quickly intercepted his path and pinned him down,

"Don't be a fool." He growled, "If you go out there, we're _all_ in trouble."

"B-but... Espio and Vector-"

"Aren't _themselves._" Shadow stressed the words, "They'll _attack_ the second you go out there, then, they'll come after us _full_ force. We're _not_ prepared for a full assault from G.U.N. troops, nor do we know how to fight without damaging your friends."

"They'll also destroy the lab and all the information we've gathered." Tails added, "Please listen to us Charmy."

Charmy slowly stopped his struggles and soon only his sobs were heard.

"There's a cure for robotization," Tails spoke, "We'll have your friends back in no time." Charmy nodded.

Shadow slowly walked over to a screen, "Now, let's get back to wh-"

An earthquake began to rumble disrupting everyone's thoughts.

"Is that supposed to happen?" Asked Rouge as Shadow ran over to a security system.

"Begin outer perimeter scan." The computer complied with Shadow's voice and soon the screen projected a hologram of the underground base. Soon, movements were being recorded through the earth.

"The Eggmorphers are very close to the walls of this place." Shadow mumbled.

"I thought we couldn't be found here!" Knuckles yelled near Shadow's ear.

"If you know what's good for you Echidna, you'll give me some space." Shadow glared back and raced to a system in the center of the room, "Activate emergency shut down procedure."

"Shut down procedure?" Rouge asked.

"It's for precaution. We can't afford a single slip up right now."

"_Please place hand on scanner._"

Shadow removed his glove and allowed the green light scan the details of his palm.

"_Granted. Initiating Emergency Shut Down._"

"What about all the data!" Yelled Tails.

"It's all been sent to various computers that are connected to this one. Each one has a jamming signal Eggman won't be able to trace or hack. Now everyone stay quiet, this may be sound proof, but that doesn't mean it's 100% safe."

The earthquakes got a lot more violent as the movements of the Eggmorphers pushed the dirt aside. Beads of sweat appeared on Shadow's forehead as he could _hear _the movement of the metal,

_'Don't find us... Don't hit us... Don't even sense us!'_

Everyone held their breath fearing that the Eggmorpher could possibly hit the walls of the secret location. After a few minutes of tension, the rumbling began to slow down and disappear. Shadow waited a few more minutes before speaking,

"Reactivate main power source."

The lab came back to life, but just as everyone was about to cheer, they saw Shadow looking at a screen.

"The G.U.N. soldiers are at the third loop entrance!" Tails and the others began to have a panic attack as the Commander began to lean against the rock. Gasps echoed in the lab as they closed their eyes, waiting for the Commander to head towards the next door after finding out the secret.

Shadow seemed to be unphased,

"You can open your eyes now."

When they looked at the screen the Commander spoke,

"There's nothing here. Keep looking!"

His troops and the two robotisized mobians saluted as they progressed further ahead.

"Wha?" Tails was trying to figure out what just happened.

"The first scanner on the loops scanned a special chip hidden in the extreme gear. The second scanned our physical appearance, meaning if you don't have the board, you can enter by just scanning your form."

"I should have more gear made for all of us soon along with the chips Shadow gave me." Wave went straight to work, "NO ONE BUG ME!"

A few rolled their eyes and went back to their stations.

'_Now for testing._' Shadow sat down with a joystick in hand.

"This isn't time for video games Shadow." Tails nudged him.

"This is more than just a video game." He pressed the to button and a screen flickered on.

"_Choose your locations_"

Shadow put on a headset and spoke, "All locations with massive bodies of water."

"_Sending out tester bots._"

"How are you going to control all of those?" Tails asked amazed.

"I only control one. If I want to switch, I just say the tag number it has."

Each bot lowered itself to the deepest parts of the oceans, scanning water particles or any unusual formations. The darker it got, the lighter they glowed.

"How do you know how to use this stuff?" Tails looked at another screen.

"What do you think I did in my spare time?" Shadow switched bots.

Hours past and Tails had fallen asleep on his chair. Shadow remained persistent, refusing to let his eyelids close,

'_I'm sure there has to be _something_ down here. There's no other place he could be._'

One by one, the small bots came back with negative results,

'_This should've wo-_'

"_Unidentified particles detected._"

Shadow smirked, '_Bingo._'

He began to search the area only to find nothing but strange fish and other species.

'_I don't understand._' He continued looking, '_There should be something!_' He growled frustrated.

The bot's camera began to fritz and blacked out.

"What!?"

Shadow tried to access the bot once more, desperate to at least get the coordinates.

"Tsk Tsk. So close weren't you Shadow?"

"Eggman?" Shadow slammed his fist against the keyboard, '_Where are you!?_'

Eggman appeared in the camera, "Right here. Where else would I be?" He grinned, "Why so shocked? You really didn't think I couldn't hack at least one thing from you did you?"

'_Does this mean he knows where we are?_' He noticed Eggman's background, "What are you doing to him?"

"Who?" Eggman played dumb and received a cold glare from Shadow, "OH! You mean Dash. That's a surprise for you in the near future." He chuckled.

"Are you done gloating?"

"Actually, I wanted to give you an offer."

"Oh really?" Shadow perked up an ear, "Now what can you possibly offer me?"

"You want to be back with Dash don't you?" Shadow looked over at the robotic hedgehog. Eggman smiled at the interest,

"I can unrobotisize him at anytime and he'll be his usual self, just like before. Isn't that what you want? A happy life with Dash? Hearing him call you 'dad' and you teaching him the basics in life?"

Shadow's eyes slowly widened, "You would, unrobotize him?"

"Of course! I won't even perform my little surprise for you on him."

Shadow remained pensive, "What do I have to do?"

"Just swear me your loyalty and bring your friends to me. There, I shall return Dash to his former self and with both of you on my side, we'll rule together with an iron fist!"

Shadow looked at everyone who had gotten involved in this conflict, '_Everyone one has taken a task to help me retrieve Dash. Some even went as far as allowing themselves to be robotisized just to achieve this goal._'

"Do we have a deal?"

Shadow sighed, "You really take me for a fool don't you?" He glared at the screen, "I don't care how long it takes! I'll save Dash and the others from your dirty hands _without_ your deals! _Then_, I'll bring you to your knees!" He raised his voice a bit more, "YOU CAN KEEP YOUR OFFER EGGMAN! I'M NOT INTERESTED!"

Eggman frowned, "I offer you a once in a life time chance and you blow it." He looked at Dash, "Begin running the program."

"Program?" Shadow looked at Dash as a the computers began to hum.

Eggman glared at Shadow, "You can forget about your son. He'll no longer be here."

The screen blacked out once more, ending the intermission.

Shadow gritted his teeth and looked at Tails, "Did you get the coordinates?"

Tails rose slowly, "Yeah. I say we get moving on the next part of the plan as fast as we can."

Shadow nodded and saw everyone in the center of the room, waiting for instructions.

"We need a vehicle that can get us down to those depths." Shadow started.

"Tails and I can make something, but it'll take a few days..." Wave spoke up.

"We don't have days." Shadow spoke, "We probably only have a few hours."

"WHAT!?"

"You see, we sort of..." Tails coughed a bit, "Made direct contact with Eggman's computers and he might know where we are thanks to some abandoned coding."

"Tails? Why would you do that?!" Asked Knuckles.

"It was our only chance to locate him." Shadow defended.

"But what about the lab?" Asked Rouge.

"I won't let Eggman retrieve any equipment if that's what your asking."

"You mean you're gonna-"

"Blow it sky high? Yes." He looked around, "I rather see this place turned to rubble than under Eggman's control."

A silence took over but Shadow quickly spoke again,

"Use the extreme gear, Wave and Tails, you should be able to make something that can carry us into those waters in a few hours."

"IMPOSSIBLE!" They both yelled.

"Not in this lab."

Both looked at each other confused as Shadow walked into an inventory room.

**SuperSonicSpeed: C'mon! One tickle session is enough! **

**Sonic: Nope. Not until SylverEclipse says so.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: What!? Since when do you take orders!**

**Shadow: It's not taking orders when it's torturing you.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Do I still get my guacamole?**

**Shadow: No. But before we continue, there's a question for you.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: YAY!**

**Sonic: From chloemcg: Aren't Sonic and Dash the same person, or should I say hedgehog?**

**SuperSonicSpeed: Technically yes, physically. But there will be a future chapter that explains what's going on. :) And no worries, you're not being rude. I like being questioned because then I can see where there are any holes in the story.**

**Shadow: Hm... Shadow rifle crazy... I like the idea xiXlToxiclXix.**

******SuperSonicSpeed: O.O Thank you everyone for reading, reviewing, following, favoriting, and etc! See you next chapter! *Takes Cover***


	22. Plans Set In Motion

**SuperSonicSpeed: *Whispers* Welcome back everyone to the next chapter! **

**Shadow: Where are you SuperSonicSpeed?**

**Sonic: Yeah, wait, why are we hunting her down again?**

**Shadow: Because she ran away in the middle of the tickle session**

**SuperSonicSpeed: *Whispers* I don't own any of the characters.**

**Shadow: There you are.**

**Sonic: START!**

"I know you have the wrench!"

"I already told you I put it back!"

"We don't have time for bickering," Shadow growled, "It's over there under the papers you both drew on."

Wave rushed to the papers, grabbing what she needed and a few boards to work on.

"Where did you get this stuff anyways?"

Shadow didn't look at Tails, "Like I said, the professor had many hobbies. Before studying space, he studied the depths of the oceans."

"Talk about convenient." Tails mused.

"I'm not complaining..."

"Hey Shadow," Knuckles interrupted, "How much longer until Eggman finds us?"

"He hasn't found us yet."

"But you said-"

"That the abandoned coding could lead him to find us."

Knuckles seemed lost.

"Think about breaking into something and leaving behind evidence that you were there. We didn't have enough time to clean up our mess before the transmission was cut." Tails cleared up.

"How did he hack the camera?"

"Anyone can hack a normal camera and reverse the feed Knuckles. No one can resist easy bait."

"So it was all planned?"

"Pretty much." Tails took out a welder.

Knuckles nodded and went back to help Rouge move things around.

Hours past and all the hover boards were underwater ready.

"Once we hit water," Wave showed the side of the board, "These flaps will rise around you."

"This substance is similar to what Eggman has been using on his new robots," Tails paused, "But it's not as strong."

"We can go to a certain depth," Wave pointed out a meter on the front, "These will let you know how much pressure is on you. Once they start flashing red, head up to avoid being crushed."

"What about air supply?"

"That's where these air tanks come in handy." Shadow stepped in front of everyone, "These will give us air for a few hours. It'll be more than enough, assuming we get inside Eggman's base that is."

"Some Eggmorphers are heading our way!" Jet yelled.

"Everyone, grab a hover board and go!" Shadow yelled as he placed his hand on a scanner, "Knuckles! Is the Master Emerald in a safe location!?"

"YEAH!" Knuckles hopped on his board.

"Start permanent self destruct sequence!"

"_Initiating protocol PSDS._" A countdown started as they flew off.

"Permanent?" Asked Tails.

"If they reach the place before it's destroyed they won't be able to override or stop it."

The Eggmorphers didn't see the small army leaving the hide out and were greeted by a full forced explosion. They screeched, but began to absorb the flames.

Shadow never looked back.

**With Eggman**

"Escaped again!" He smashed his fist, "They are _really_ starting to become a bother!" He looked over at Dash and viewed the screens, "This program is running slower than the robotization program!"

His anger made a vein pop out on his forehead, "FIND THEM! NOW!"

**With Shadow**

"Alright," Shadow could see the ocean up ahead and began to descend, "Let's see how well both of you made these."

Everyone put on their oxygen mask and began crashing against the water. The flaps surrounded them like a bubble and the form literally moved with the water.

"So far so good!" Yelled Tails.

"The coordinates to the base are a up ahead, from there, we have to descend quite a bit to get there." Rouge looked worriedly at Wave and Tails, "I hope it's a depth we can reach."

Shadow smashed a button with his shoe, forcing the board to go to overdrive. Schools of fish broke apart avoiding the crash they would've received but the Mobians stuck together ignoring any distraction the sea had to offer.

"HEY TAILS!" Yelled Jet, "Is this bubble supposed to get smaller and smaller?!"

"Yes, it just means that it's dealing with whatever pressure we're in."

Knuckles snickered, "You aren't afraid? Are you?"

Jet glared but didn't reply.

Shadow turned on the front lights of the hoverboard as they entered the midnight zone. He pulled up a bit and began to ride straight.

"Creepy." Jet said as he saw an angler fish.

"Wonder what it tastes like." Everyone looked at storm with bewilderment, "What? Never eaten a fish?"

"We're nearby but," Shadow stopped for a few seconds, lighting the path, "I don't see anything."

"Must be a cloaking device," Tails kicked the board he was on and a few robots bustled out, "These'll look for any traces of that polluted water you found."

One bot stopped and began to beep.

"It found something!" Storm yelled.

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious." Knuckles taunted causing Rouge to snicker.

Storm flushed and glared back.

When Tails stopped in front of the bot, he noticed something below the trench.

"G-guys!"

"What is it?" Shadow went over to take a look, "HEAD UP!"

Everyone responded immediately as they saw the floating mines slowly receive a tap by the small robots. The explosion erupted causing bubbles to spread, visibility was minimal to anyone trapped in the bubble cloud.

"That was close." Jet responded.

Shadow seemed caught up in something.

"What is it Shadow?" Asked Rouge.

Shadow kicked it up to overdrive as he yelled, "There was a form up ahead."

"Great! Where!?" Yelled Knuckles.

"That's the thing," Shadow spoke, "It moved the second the explosion began."

"Does that mean?" Tails looked around.

"He's moving the base!" Shadow noticed the bubble around him get smaller, "If that's not bad enough, he's moving it deeper in!"

"We have to hurry then!" Tails hollered. A few bot were up ahead keeping traces of the base's movements.

"If he didn't have that cloaking device!" Shadow growled.

"Look!"

A hatch slowly opened and hundreds of robot fish headed towards them.

"You guys go on ahead! Storm and I will take care of them!" Knuckles yelled out.

"ME!?" Storm looked at the fish and back at Knuckles, "We can't take them on just the two of us!"

"Watch us." Knuckles headed towards the fish and pressed a button activating a pure metallic plate at the bottom of the board. In seconds, he bashed a few of the fish.

"Yours has the same feature Storm!" Wave yelled, "Now go!"

Storm nodded and followed.

"This is your last mistake Eggman!" Shadow yelled as he entered the narrow entrance.

Tails and the others were right behind him. Each bubble opened and went back to the sides of the boards.

"We were almost crushed you moron!" Yelled a very panicked Jet.

"That was too easy, don't you think?" Asked Rouge.

'_Easy?!_' Jet face palmed.

Shadow remained silent and continued forward in the base. As they entered the main door, they were greeted by nine doors.

"A maze..." Shadow's eyes narrowed.

Jet opened one door and a trap was set off. Had he entered, he would've been crushed.

"A deadly one." Jet scratched his head.

"Must you copy the dialogue you see in movies jet?" Wave rolled her eyes.

"I did not copy a thing!" Jet yelled.

"How do you want to do this Shadow?" Tails opened another door leading to more.

Shadow closed his eyes and began trying to sense anything. A light humming could be heard at a distance, but then... He rushed towards a door and ran it.

"Let's go!" Shadow yelled, "I can sense a Chaos Emerald in that direction!"

"Then why are we going to the opposite direction?" Asked Jet.

"It's moving." Shadow opened another door and another trap was set off. He back flipped just in time.

"Eggmorpher?" Asked Tails.

"Most likely." Shadow opened a door to be greeted by tall walls, "Something tells me this is the second part of the maze."

"How many Eggmorphers are there?" Asked Wave as he looked around a corner.

"I've only counted five." Spoke Tails.

"Two are missing." Shadow added.

"Two?" Asked Rouge.

"There are seven emeralds. That means he'll most likely have two here playing body guards while the other five fight us in the surface." Shadow avoided a tile, "That one has a mechanism under it."

"How do you know?" Jet challenged.

"Does it matter?" Shadow spoke annoyed.

"So if I were to step on i-" Jet was on the floor in seconds.

"If you're only here to annoy me and cause trouble, then leave." Shadow turned and began walking away.

"_Shadow, come in._"

"What is it Knuckles?"

"_The fish bots are down, but a warning, The Commander and his army are heading inside._"

Shadow smirked, "That'll make thing easier."

"_If you say so, I'll head to my position and notify you when I get there._"

"Copy, over and out." Shadow looked at everyone with him, "I hope you're all ready for a stealth mission."

**SuperSonicSpeed: Stealth mission eh?**

**Sonic: That's no fun!**

**Shadow: Speak for yourself.**

**Sonic: You have a question! **

**Shadow: From bearvalley3365: Are you planning to add panda bears & gorillas into this story? **

**SuperSonicSpeed: I don't think I will in this story, SORRY! Also, I'm not mad, :) I could _never _be mad a reader, not even flamers.**

**Sonic: You sap!**

**SuperSonicSpeed: HEY! Anywho, Thank you everyone for reading, reviewing, and all the wonderful other stuff! I really appreciate it! :D **

**Shadow: Now back to your torture.**

******SuperSonicSpeed: But I won't be able to update if I'm tickled to death! D:**

******Sonic: Til next time everyone!**


	23. Infiltration

**SuperSonicSpeed: RAAAWRRR!**

**Shadow: ?**

**Sonic: O.o**

**Shadow: You're still getting tickled...**

**SuperSonicSpeed: I DON'T OWN THEM! *Runs* ALL QUESTIONS WILL BE ANSWERED AFTER!**

**Shadow and ****Sonic: Bad idea. *smirks***

Shadow followed the Commanders steps with ease. The clicks his shoes made were covered by the marching of the Commander's army. The others followed closely behind, waiting for Shadow's orders.

"Why don't we-" Jet stopped talking when Shadow gave him the coldest glare he could muster. When Shadow looked back, the last person was entering the next room.

"Let's go."

Shadow ran as quietly as possible and paused when he reached the door.

"You are all going to stall them until my program is complete!" Yelled Eggman.

Shadow restrained himself from running in that very second and beating the man.

"You heard him. Move out." The Commander ordered.

"Pull back." Shadow hissed as he heard footsteps coming towards the door.

They hid behind a corner and spied.

"They were here sir!" An operative yelled.

Shadow peeked and his anger rose when he saw a soldier holding a green feather. He glared daggers at Jet who had a nonchalant look. He ignored the cockiness the other showed and saw all the soldiers separate.

"Alright, we need to split up and see if any of them can lead us to Eggman."

"But Shadow, every time we split up-"

"It's the only way to find out where the main location is. At this rate, we'll only walk around in circles and Dash's memory will be..." Shadow paused, "Jet, Wave, and Storm will be one group. Charmy, Rouge, and Amy will be another. Tails and I will follow the commander." Everyone nodded, "Remain vigilant and don't blow your cover until we're together and we absolutely know where Eggman or Dash are."

Their search began the second the last sentence was stated.

**With Rouge, Charmy, and Amy**

Rouge, being the master in stealth, lead the small group as they followed one of the soldiers. She paused and made hand gesture,

"There are a few traps and cameras ahead." She grabbed Amy's hand and flew avoiding being seen, "Keep your legs up, there are laser detectors below us." She looked at Charmy who flew just as quietly.

'_Poor guy hasn't been the same since Vector and Espio were robotisized._' She lowered herself and leaned against a wall, '_He's typing a code._' She listened closely to the rhythm of the beeps, '_High, low, side, low, low, side, corner..._'

An audible click echoed as the door opened. Rouge looked at the other two and nodded. They dashed the second the guard entered the doorway. Rouge managed to keep the door slightly open and she peaked inside.

'_The break room! You have _got_ to be kidding me!_'

Sure enough, the soldier was getting himself a cup of coffee. She face palmed as she whispered to the others, "False alarm. This place has nothing." They began walking another way when she started to hear humming, "Hide."

"Where? There's no place to hide." Charmy looked around for anything. Doors, garbage cans, anything to hide in, but everything seemed to have disappeared.

"INTRUDER!" They looked up and saw a robotisized Espio above them.

"LET'S GO!" As they ran, Rouge began to think, '_But how did they know? We were perfectly silent! I know there were places to hide before but now..._' Each corner they rounded had no doors or any type of hiding spot. There was absolutely _nothing_.

"Keep running! It's the only thing we have right now!" She looked back, "Sorry Espio." She tornado kicked him out of the air.

"What are you doing!?" Yelled Charmy.

"Don't stop running!" She joined them as soon as Espio hit the floor, "We need to find a way out!"

"Rouge," Amy called, "I think we're running in circles."

"What makes you say that?" Rouge looked up and saw the walls shifting around, "Their leading us towards a certain area." She looked back and saw Espio coming, "We don't have a choice, let's go!"

They followed the paths that constantly opened.

**With Jet, Wave, and Storm**

"What a pain." Jet kept walking.

"What do you mean?" Wave glared, "We're fighting to get the world back to normal!"

"Actually, we're fighting to get Shadow's brat back." Jet crossed his arms, "Something that is none of my concern."

"How could you be so cold!" Wave yelled as she clenched her fists.

"Easy." He stopped in front of a room and opened it to be met by a robotisized Vector. Storm and Wave backed up but looked shocked when Jet walked right up to him.

"I'll take over from here." Jet stepped up to a screen and started typing a few mechanics.

"What are you doing Jet!?" Wave exclaimed.

"My end of the deal. I help Eggman, we get to treasure hunt all we want without fear of getting caught!"

"Jet, that isn't what treasure hunting is about!" Storm finally spoke.

"What do you know!" He saw the screen of Rouge and the others and opened the walls ahead, "Treasure hunting is the ability to find valuables beyond your wildest dreams. This is our golden ticket to hunt in this world. Let's face it! There's _no way_ a small group could beat Eggman and his mechanisms!"

"GOLDEN TICKET!?" Wave exclaimed, "How do you know he won't turn on you like last time!?"

"This is my decision!" Jet responded.

Wave looked down and muttered, "You mean all the 'accidents' were really-"

"Part of my plan to let Eggman and his crew know exactly where we were? Yes."

"You're low! Lower than G.U.N.!" Wave yelled.

"Vector, do me a favor and take them to the cells below." Jet spoke.

"JET! DON'T!"

Vector grabbed both birds. Storm was surprised at the strength the robot had.

"Don't worry, you'll both be free as soon as I'm done on my end."

The door shut and Jet continued his job.

**With Shadow and Tails**

'_Hurry up Commander... That Chaos energy only means an Eggmorpher is nearby._'

Tails followed Shadow closely as they moved side by side.

"This maze is huge." Tails whispered.

"He replicated the Ark design and reinvented his own." Shadow carefully hid behind a cart, avoiding a camera, "At this rate, our cover could blow at any second."

The Commander entered a pair of double doors.

"What do you mean?" Tails asked curiously.

"He put cameras at every point. Some don't even have a blind spot." Shadow pushed Tails into the cart and hid, "Plus those scanners occur every ten seconds. We must be close if security is this tight."

"What if I try hacking it?"

Shadow grabbed Tails's hand, "Let's not try anything yet." Shadow sped towards the double doors, with Tails in tow, and entered right before the scanner went off again.

"Where are we?" Tails whispered, but bumped right into Shadow, "I know that look." He looked down below and saw a lab, computers, and Dash completely wired up.

"_25% Deletion_" A robotic voice echoed.

Shadow punched the glass separating him and his son as hard as he could, but only felt his knuckle slightly shatter. He hissed and held his fist close.

"You ok?"

"I'll live." Shadow grunted.

"But for how long?" A voice asked.

They looked up to see the Commander a top a bridge holding a button.

"So long." He pressed it and the ceiling above shattered, water pouring in with the debris. The Commander ran to the nearest door and shut it tight.

"What do we do!?" Tails asked panicked.

Shadow took one more look at Dash before he grabbed Tails's arm and ran back to the double doors that were starting to close. He dove in and Tails barely made it through before the door caught a Tail.

"We know where he is now." Tails spoke.

"We have company." Shadow narrowed his eyes as an Eggmorpher roared at them.

**SuperSonicSpeed: There's a new traitor, a sneak peak of Dash, and we leave off with an Eggmorpher.**

**Sonic: Sounds more like cliff hanger. **

**Shadow: I agree.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: WHAT! I can't put all the good stuff in one chapter! **

**Sonic: It would make the readers happy.**

**SuperSonicSpeed: I stand by my cliffy's! Anywho, thank you for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following! There were a lot of supportive reviews, so I thank you all! *Bows***** :D If anyone has questions, I'm happy to answer any and all of them. ****Now then, were you all expecting this traitor? Let me know! I wish I could've seen every ones reaction.** It looks like everything is starting to wind down.

**Shadow: You have questions.**

******SuperSonicSpeed: WOOHOO! Let me at em!**

******Sonic: From bearvalley3365: If I describe the information about Noah Raymond Thompson & Spencer Timothy Metzner in the next chapter, could you please add them into all of your other stories?**

******SuperSonicSpeed: I apologize, but I can't put them in all my stories. I can, however, put them in one of the chapters for Orphan Story and you will be credited in the beginning.**

******Shadow: This ones my favorite. *Holds up paper* From 1sonicdashrainbow: When are going to post the last chapter?**

******SuperSonicSpeed: *Smiles* I'm not sure, to be honest I thought the ending was going to be in Chapter 19 or 20, but I got excited and extended on the story. There's still a few more chapters to go before the ending though. (I actually have a piece of the ending written out on my notebook. HAHA!) **

******Shadow: Figures. *Helps xiXlToxiclXix up***

******SuperSonicSpeed: Til next time everyone and Thank you again! *Runs before getting tickled***


	24. Confrontation

**Sonic: This is bad... this is really bad!**

**Shadow: Calm down, all we need-**

**Sonic: We need to confess!**

**Shadow: LISTEN FAKER! SuperSonicSpeed only passed out from laughing so hard. **

**Sonic: B-but...**

**Shadow: No buts. *looks at readers* SuperSonicSpeed doesn't own us.**

**Sonic: S-so. You can look away and start reading... NOW!**

"RUN!" Tails began flying while Shadow threw Chaos Spears as they ran.

"We need to find the room with Dash!" Shadow narrowly avoided getting bitten my the metal beast.

"We need to escape _first_!" Tails looked around for any opening.

"We need to find an elevator or... something..." Shadow looked back at the Eggmorpher and stopped.

"Shadow! What are you doing!?" Tails saw the Eggmorpher rise as his mouth opened wide.

Shadow remained perfectly calm as the Eggmorpher crashed down above him.

"SHADOW!" Tails ran towards the hole and looked down at the section below, "You idiot!" Tails clenched his fist as he saw Shadow appear from the debris, "Give me a warning next time!"

"Nice to know my plans are known as idiotic," Shadow glared from bellow, "Next time you find a way down."

Tails glared at Shadow, "The elevator was right there!"

Shadow looked ahead on the lower level and indeed saw elevator doors a few meters away. He shrugged and started walking while an angry fox flew behind him.

"Where's the Eggmorpher?" Tails asked as they walked through a poorly lit corridor.

"He should have landed where we landed..." Shadow stopped and closed his eyes, listening for anything mechanical.

"Hear anything?" Tails asked.

"You have the fake Chaos Emerald right?" Shadow didn't look back.

"Yeah, here." Tails placed it in Shadow's hand. The gem had an opaque look, but Shadow looked at it with determination.

"This is our last chance." He murmured to himself as he hid the gem in his quills.

Tails saw Shadow burst into a high-speed run, heading straight towards one door. Tails quickly flew towards him trying to catch up.

"Shadow! We can't be too rash!"

Shadow ignored him as he continued to attack the door with all he had. The door slowly started to dent and soon, the door burst open.

Shadow walked in and whispered, "I found you."

Tails saw him slowly approach the table that held his son hostage.

"Dash." Shadow whispered as he pet the robotic quills, "Everything will go back to normal soon."

"We need to get these wires off him." Tails went straight to work, but he felt... uneasy, "Shadow, don't you think this was too easy?"

Shadow remained quiet, too caught up in the moment, '_It feels like I haven't been near Dash for ages._'

"Are you list-" Tails felt the ground below start to tremble and slowly begin to rise, "I knew it..."

The roof above them opened while lights flashed brightly down towards them. Shadow's stare hardened when he saw the man who caused all the current suffering behind glass.

"I see the intruders finally found little Dash." He mocked, "Too bad I have to split up this momentary reunion."

Shadow felt an electric charge travel through his body, but remained by Dash's side.

"Don't want to leave I see..." Eggman laughed, "Alright then. Let's see how much you can last!" Eggman cranked up the voltage and Shadow could feel his body going numb from the sparks. As the voltage grew higher, he looked at Dash,

"I'll be back soon. I just need to take care of some business." Shadow jumped away from the source and as soon as he landed a few feet away, a glass dome covered Dash. Shadow growled and began banging the glass, testing its strength. He froze,

'_This is just like before..._' Memories of looking at Maria and desperately trying to get out of the escape pod to help her appeared. A small tear fell from his cheek, '_Will the outcome be the same?_'

"30% Deletion."

'_That's getting really close to 50%_' Tails saw Shadow's shoulders slump a bit. He gave Eggman a look of frustration and sadness, "You stole my brother... You stole his son... and you stole our way of life..."

"That's not all." Eggman grinned, "Eggmorphers, show them our other intruders."

On cue, five Eggmorphers appeared, each one holding a friend within their form. Shadow and Tails were appalled,

"You really do rely on cheap tricks!" Tails threw an accusing finger at him.

"Just doing what I need to win." He sat back, "Fight the Eggmorphers, you hurt your friends." He grinned, "Might as well turn yourselves in, considering this is a lost cause, right Jet?"

Tails's ears perked up at the name. A screen appeared and Jet smirked, "You got it boss."

Shadow glared, but said nothing.

"What? NO response?" He snickered, "If I were you, _I'd_ be hoping for _more time_."

Tails lost it, "WHY WOULD YOU BETRAY US! EGGMAN HAS NOTHING TO GIVE YOU! DON'T YOU SEE IT'S ALL A TRICK!?"

"Listen kid, I do what _I_ want. Don't take it too personal," Jet shrugged, "It's all in good business."

"Business?!" Tails clenched his fists.

Shadow looked back at Dash lying down on the table.

"35% Deletion."

"I won't stop fighting doctor... not until I see you fall." He glared at Eggman and shifted his cold stare to Jet, "Once these Eggmorphers are destroyed, I'll hunt you down and clip those things you call wings."

"Big talk for someone who couldn't beat _one_ Eggmorpher, let alone being _gullible_ enough to fall by his own son's tricks." He scratched his chin and chuckled at Shadow's mad reaction, "but since you _are_ the 'Ultimate Life Form', surely _five minutes _would be enough time for you to find me."

Shadow smirked as Eggman grew annoyed with the conversation,

"Eggmorphers, attack the pests that have stood in my way for so long!"

Tails and Shadow split up in different directions as they were attacked from both sides.

Eggman observed their movements closely, '_If they fall into a pattern, it will be game over for them._' He then proceeded to look at Dash, '_Should I pull the plug so he could fight or should I wait it out?_' He smiled, '_It would make things more interesting._' he frowned, '_Then again, I need to be sure to erase his last strand of freedom..._' He scratched his mustache, '_Tough decision indeed._'

Shadow kicked the side of one of the robotic heads that chased him, causing the Eggmorpher to frits out a bit. The two others came from under and Shadow spinned in the air, both Egmorphers missing his arms. Shadow quickly jumped out-of-the-way using the Egmorphers body and evaded being crushed in between them. He was about to throw a spear when the Eggmorpher turned, using Rouge as a shield.

'_Miserable piece of junk..._' Shadow jumped towards one of the robots but was knocked down by another.

Shadow struggled as he felt the metal melt around him. He closed his eyes,

"Chaos Spear!" He let loose just enough spears to poke holes on the substance and got away. When he turned around, an Eggmorpher was already ready for him and quickly dodged the attack.

Meanwhile, Tails dodged and flew around, trying to get in an effective blow on either of the two that were attacking him.

'_Just have to keep aiming for the head._'

After a few minutes of 'tag', an Eggmorpher screeched and began to coil around another Eggmorpher. Shadow and Tails felt their ears drums start to throb, both shook their heads trying to get rid of the feeling. Eggman let a wide smile grace his face.

The last two Eggmorphers burst in from bellow and coiled around the others.

"Rodents, meet the Ultimate machine," Shadow and Tails looked up as Eggman spoke, "The Eggmorphfusion."

'_What a ridiculous name..._' Shadow saw the Eggmorphers slowly melt together forming into one. Their friends remained within the massive form, unconscious and unaware of their surroundings.

Shadow caught a small glimpse of something shiny within the metallic mass, '_The Chaos Emeralds._' He growled, '_How am I supposed to remove them without getting myself engulfed?_'

"This is bad..." Tails mumbled, "How are we supposed to beat that!"

The metal finally took its form, short arms and legs on either side with claws as sharp as a tigers. The body was sleek with details of scales all over and the shape of it's head resembled a dragon. Their friends were trapped throughout its back, using them as a shield for any sneak attacks. A final roar erupted as it's face closed in on the fox and hedgehog. The massive body almost rammed them against a wall, but its tail accidently hit the dome Dash was in.

Shadow dodged a tail swipe and caught a glimpse of the dome, '_Not even a crack!_'

He felt his body slam against the wall, after a grunt, he opened his eyes to see the Eggmorpher's body pinning him down. The Eggmorpher opened its mouth wide and started getting close to Shadow's face.

"No you don't!" Tails rammed himself against the Eggmorpher's head, causing the weight to shift over. Shadow quickly jumped out of the grasp and threw Chaos Spears at the back of its head. The Eggmorpher let out a roar and twisted accidently hitting Tails and causing him to have a daze.

"Get up fox!" Shadow raced towards him the second the Eggmorpher realized what it had done.

The Eggmorpher blocked off Shadow with his body and picked up Tails with its mouth. Then, to Shadow's horror, the Eggmorpher swallowed Tails and added him to the collection of friends on his back.

"Looks like you're the last one standing," Eggman grinned, "I'll let Dash know of your failure. Oh wait," He faked sadness, "He won't remember you!" His laugh echoed.

Shadow glared as the Eggmorpher began to make its way towards him. Shadow's ears flicked as Jet spoke,

"Looks like your _time is up_."

Shadow saw the Eggmorpher jump towards him as he pulled out his communicator,

"KNUCKLES, NOW!"

**Sonic: Has SuperSonicSpeed woken up yet?**

**Shadow: Nope.**

**Sonic: WHOSE GONNA WRITE THE NEXT CHAPTER!?**

**Shadow: *shrugs* But I recommend you wrap this up.**

**Sonic: Right! Thank you everyone for reading, leaving reviews, favoriting, and following. You have no idea how happy SuperSonicSpeed get's when she reads them. **

**SuperSonicSpeed: What happened? *Rubs head***

**Sonic: YOU'RE UP! *Throws a laptop at SuperSonicSpeed* **

**SuperSonicSpeed: Wha? *knocked out by laptop***

**Sonic: Oops. **

**Shadow: Nice going faker... Now the readers have to wait longer for the next chapter.**

**Sonic: Hehehehehehe... hehehe... he... THANK YOU AND LEAVE PLENTY OF REVIEWS! BYE! *runs***

**Shadow: FAKER! ... Don't look at me like that...**


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